Schilling and Big Papi - a Pair of Sox for the Hall in 2022?

Schilling and Big Papi - a Pair of Sox for the Hall in 2022?
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
January 20, 2022

Major League Baseball returned to relative normalcy in 2021 following the 60 game Covid-laden season MLB stumbled through in 2020. MLB suited up for a full complement of games in 2021 culminating in the 117th World Series being won by the Atlanta Braves over the Houston Astros four games to two. This was the second championship for the Braves in Atlanta and fourth in franchise history.

Fans returned to ballparks around the nation, including at the minor league level, which had been shuttered through the entirety of the 2020 season. Fans were ushered into stadiums initially on a limited basis and allowed the numbers to grow throughout the season until reaching full capacity. Fans and stadium personnel alike donned masks as per Covid requirements, but at least with the roar of the crowds (albeit muffled) and the familiar smells wafting through the ballparks, there was finally some joy in Mudville.

If only the traditional rules of our beloved game were restored to their proper order. Gone should be seven inning doubleheaders, extra innings beginning with a runner on second base, relief pitchers required to pitch to either three batters or the end of the inning, circumstances where the home team bats in the tops of innings and a visiting team has the opportunity for the very unusual walk-off. At least the National League dropped the designated hitter, and quite frankly so should the American League as well, but that seems like a pipedream, especially with the current Players Association contract under renegotiation. 

The traditionally active Hot Stove season is currently dormant thanks to the lockout by the teams’ owners in the every few years battle between billionaires and millionaires while the fans face rising ticket prices and insane costs for parking, food, and souvenirs. The silence of the mostly snow encrusted stadiums is matched by the no talk, no contact lockout. Yet while the ballparks enjoy their winter slumber, there is business of the utmost importance emerging from Cooperstown on Tuesday, January 25.

The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) is finalizing their votes to determine who will fill the Hall of Fame Class of 2022. Is this finally the year for Curt Schilling? How about the likes of Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens - 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 2022 as cheaters such as Bonds and Clemens inch closer to the magic number of 75 percent - enough 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. Yet in the cases of Bonds and Clemens, the BBWAA voters’ support of Bonds rose from 60.7 percent in 2020 to 61.8 percent in 2021, and Clemens’ totals jumped from 61 percent in 2020 to 61.6 percent in 2021. Fortunately, remaining in low numbers are Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez. Sosa’s support moved from 13.9 percent in 2020 to 17 percent in 2021, while voting for Ramirez remained unchanged at 28.2 percent in 2021, his fifth year on the ballot. Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa are on the ballot for their tenth and final year, and hopefully they will not reach the vaunted 75 percent in 2022.

The voting results are due to be released on Tuesday, January 25. In previous years I have complained that the ballots of the voting members of the BBWAA are not released to the public. Now, the BBWAA has gone to the opposite extreme. Updates regarding the running percentage of votes received for the Hall candidates are disclosed periodically leading up to the vote deadline. This is a dangerous practice as those results could potentially influence the members of the BBWAA who have not yet cast their ballots - especially when personalities or personal bias is at play. Those votes should be announced for public consumption - after the Hall of Fame makes its official announcement of who has vaulted the 75 percent threshold. Let the BBWAA voters defend their votes as I defend mine, even if not as a member of the BBWAA. 

A prime example is Dan Shaughnessy with The Boston Globe. For the second year in a row, Shaughnessy will cast his lone vote for Jeff Kent, explaining that his vote is a protest against the steroid players. Members of the BBWAA are permitted to vote for up to 10 candidates, but many do not vote for 10. In my annual Hall of Fame column I have never supported 10 candidates in any given year. I remain a consistent and virulent opponent of the steroid players and will continue to do so for the next 10 years as Alex Rodriguez (A-Roid) steps up to the plate to begin his balloting journey.

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 2022, only four former major leaguers would earn my votes - three holdovers and one fresh face - David “Big Papi” Ortiz. Of those four, maybe two will be enshrined on Sunday July 24 - hopefully Ortiz and Schilling. Thirteen retirees are on the ballot for the first time with an additional 17 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. Of those 13, only two are worthy of discussion - Ortiz and Rodriguez. 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.

As an anti-steroid baseball fan, I feel compelled to address the elephant in the room. According to www.cbssports.com, a story leaked in 2009 that Ortiz was one of more than 100 active players to have failed a test in 2003 indicating use of a substance that had NOT been banned by Major League Baseball. That same story also indicated that Ortiz passed hundreds of subsequent tests, failing exactly none of them over the last 13 years of his MLB career. He had no involvement in the BioGenesis scandal, nor have any teammates or opponents ever suggested Ortiz behaved in an illegal manner.

Now onto the positive. Ortiz, a native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, spent the first six seasons of his 20 year career (1997-2016) with the Minnesota Twins, but truly excelled and flourished the remaining 14 with the Boston Red Sox. Not just a premier player, Ortiz was beloved by the Fenway Faithful, and his love of the fans was reciprocated. This was especially true when an ebullient Big Papi took to the microphone and gave an impassioned speech condemning the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon in 2013 and reminding the fans to remain Boston Strong to a rousing ovation.

Those ovations came often throughout his career, as Ortiz slammed 541 home runs, good for 17th on the all time list; ripped 1,191 extra base hits, ranking him eighth in the majors; 632 doubles - 12th place; 1,768 RBI - 23rd all time; as well as 2,472 hits and 1,419 runs scored. Ortiz garnered MVP votes in eight seasons and made 10 All Star teams, drove in more than 100 runs 10 times, and batted over .300 seven times accomplishing all four in his final season. Ortiz seemed to have found the Fountain of Youth in that career ending season of 2016 batting .315 with a Major League leading .620 slugging percentage and 48 doubles, along with an American League leading 127 RBI. He also hit 38 homers that season. Not a bad swan song. Ortiz was equally productive in the postseason batting .289 with 17 home runs, 22 doubles, 61 RBI, and 51 runs scored in 85 games. Ortiz played on three World Series winning teams (2004, 2007, and 2013) winning the MVP in 2013. 

Curt Schilling could finally reach 75 percent in this, his tenth year on the ballot. Schilling inched ever so closer leading all candidates in 2021 with 71.1 percent, up from 70 percent in 2020. Schilling, bloody sock and all, is a six-time All Star who pitched 20 seasons in the big leagues – three with the Orioles, one with the Astros, eight-plus with the Phillies, three-plus with the Arizona Diamondbacks, then calling it a career with the Boston Red Sox. Schilling tossed 83 complete games, and had three 20-plus win seasons within a four year span at ages 36, 38, and 39. Schilling, a member of three World Series winning teams (2001, 2004, and 2007 - Diamondbacks and Red Sox) was outstanding in the postseason. Schilling posted an 11-2 postseason record and a 2.23 ERA in 133 innings, of which he went 4-1 in the World Series with a 2.06 ERA in 48 innings. In 2001, Schilling shared World Series MVP honors with teammate Randy Johnson, already enshrined in Cooperstown, and was a Red Sox teammate with Ortiz in the 2004 and 2007 World Series triumphs. Schilling should have his ticket stamped this summer – was my mistaken prediction the last nine years, and while I believe some members of the BBWAA are holding his politics against him, Schilling still belongs among those earning a plaque in Cooperstown.

While the 2004 World Series ended an 87 year drought for the Red Sox, getting there may have been more memorable. Playing the hated Yankees in the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox fell behind three games to none before marching back, winning the final four games, a feat never before accomplished. Sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in that famed World Series seemed an inevitable aftermath. (Just don’t remind the 1986 Red Sox players and their fans about inevitability.)

Omar Vizquel, was the quintessential shortstop of a generation, having won 11 Gold Glove awards during his 24 year career, second most at that position all time. Vizquel was also the oldest shortstop to win a Gold Glove, having done 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 fifth year on the ballot for Vizquel, having dropped from 52.6 percent of the vote in 2020, to 41.1 percent in 2021. Vizquel’s numbers may dip even further in 2022 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.

In his fourth year on the ballot, Todd Helton has earned my support. The 17-year MLB veteran played his entire career with the Colorado Rockies (1997-2013) batting .316 in 2,247 games with 2,519 hits, 369 home runs, scoring 1,401 runs, and driving in 1,406 runs. The Knoxville native finished second in the 1998 Rookie of the Year balloting, earning five All Star game selections in consecutive years, from 2000 through 2004. Appearing on MVP ballots in six years, Helton’s breakout season was in 2000, leading the National League in hits with 216 and all of MLB with 59 doubles, 147 RBI and a .372 batting average, yet could only manage a fifth place finish in the MVP race that season. Earning 29.2 percent of the votes in 2020, Helton enjoyed a sizable bump up to 44.9 percent in 2021, but will more than likely not earn induction this summer.

While it is important to not sully the Baseball Hall of Fame with the likes of Bonds, Clemens, Ramirez, Sosa, and Rodriguez, the focus must be on the greats who will be enshrined this July 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. While the Class of 2021 remained bereft of new members, three members passed away - all in January within 15 days of one another, following a year of loss as seven Hall of Famers died in 2020. Longtime Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda died on January 7 at age 93, followed by pitcher Don Dutton 11 days later on January 18 at age 75, and four days later, on January 22, Mr. Henry Aaron, the true home run king, died at age 86.

Tommy Lasorda (09/22/1927 - 01/07/2021) entered the Hall of Fame as a manager in 1997 spending the entirety of his managerial career with the Dodgers from 1976 through 1996. During his tenure he led his team to four National League pennants and two World Series titles in 1981 against the Yankees and in 1988 versus the Oakland Athletics. In Game One of the 1988 World Series a barely able to walk Kirk Gibson made Lasorda look like a genius. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, trailing four to three and one runner on base, Gibson, in his lone at bat of the entire World Series, clouted a pinch hit two-run homer to win the game five to four in a series the Dodgers would win in five games. Only in Hollywood.

Don Sutton (04/02/1945 - 01/18/2021) pitched six of his 23 seasons (1966-88) for Lasorda as a member of the Dodgers, and entered the Hall of Fame in 1998 receiving 81.6 percent of the votes. Sutton won 324 games, placing him 14th on the all time list; striking out 3,574 batters, good for seventh place; tossing 5,282 innings, also good for seventh place; and issuing 58 shutouts, putting him in 10th place all time. Sutton was named to four All Star teams and earned votes for the Cy Young Award five times. The Dodgers retired Sutton’s number 20 in 1998. Additionally, Sutton worked 30 years behind the mic for the Dodgers, Braves, and Nationals - 27 for the Braves, who inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2015.

Mr. Henry Aaron - yes, he preferred Henry to the media-assigned Hank (02/05/1934 -  01/22/2021) played 21 of his 23 seasons with the aforementioned Braves. He entered the Hall of Fame on his first try in 1982 garnering 97.8 percent of the vote. Who were the nine BBWAA members of the 415 not to have voted for Aaron? Did they drop into Earth from Saturn? Aaron began his MLB career in Milwaukee with the Braves (moving to Atlanta in 1966) in 1954 and concluded his career back in Milwaukee in 1976 with the Brewers. During that time Aaron put up such prolific numbers that still rank among the elites. His 2,297 RBI, 1,477 extra base hits, and 6,856 total bases are still number one in all of Major League Baseball. Aaron’s 3,771 base hits rank third all time, and his 2,174 runs scored place him second. His 756 home runs should still be best in MLB history, but that’s a different argument for a different day. 

What must be said about Aaron and his home run total is the difficulty he endured while chasing the almighty Babe Ruth. Ruth retired with 714 home runs in 1935 - a record that stood almost 40 years. As Aaron climbed the home run ladder, reaching 500 in 1968, 600 in 1971, and ending the 1973 season with 713 - exactly one shy of tying Ruth, Aaron received torrents of death threats both orally and in writing - G-d forbid a Black player should pass the legendary Babe Ruth. Aaron handled the threats and pressure that accompanied them with grace and aplomb - the same way he played baseball and carried himself in life. When Bonds passed Aaron with home run number 756 in 2007, Aaron had a congratulatory video message for Bonds played at the San Francisco Giants stadium. A class act, no surprise.

On May 17, 1970, when Aaron collected his 3,000th base hit, he became the first player in MLB history to accumulate 3,000 hits and 500 home runs. Aaron’s Braves defeated the Yankees in the 1957 World Series, the same year he won his lone MVP award. Aaron earned votes for the MVP in 19 seasons, appeared on 25 All Star teams (1959-62 two All Star games would be played each season), won three Gold Gloves, and two batting titles. In 2002 Henry Aaron was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed upon an American civilian, by President Goerge W. Bush.

May their memories be for a Blessing, and may 2022 be a better, healthier year for one and all, and may the baseball season start on time.

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.

Get the Olympics Out of Beijing - Stop Rewarding Bad Behavior

Get the Olympics Out of Beijing - Stop Rewarding Bad Behavior
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
December 20, 2021

I love the Olympics - the pageantry of the Opening Ceremonies, the camaraderie of the Closing Ceremonies following two and a half weeks of international competition, the flags, the anthems, and although I fervently root for the United States, when a victor emerges from a small or unexpected country, those too, are compelling stories. I can’t get enough water polo during the summer games, and it’s curling in the winter games that captivates my attention.

When the Biden administration announced earlier this month a diplomatic boycott of the games, they didn’t go far enough. Not sending American officials to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics sends a tepid message at best. It instills no fear in the host country. The right message would be a total and complete boycott of the XXIV Winter Olympic Games. Days later, Canada and Great Britain also announced their decisions of a diplomatic boycott as well.

That message would be, a despotic regime such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), for all its human rights abuses, for imprisoning about a million minority Uyghurs in concentration camps, for clamping down on rights heretofore enjoyed by Hong Kong, for saber rattling toward Taiwan, for a still unfree Tibet, for Covid-19, does not, in any way, shape or form, deserve the honor of hosting the Olympic Games. 

The CCP should not be rewarded for its atrocious behavior. When a pro-democracy Hong Konger such as Jimmy Lai (among others) is jailed for protesting, and the newspaper he founded,the Apple Daily, is shuttered by the government, that is not the sign of a transparent society. When Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter publicly criticizes the CCP, and the end result that Chinese state television pulls all Celtics games from their airwaves, is not demonstrative of a country moving toward increased freedoms for its people.

Kanter, who on Monday November 29 became an official American citizen and legally changed his name to Enes Kanter Freedom, has called upon the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to pull the 2022 Winter Games from Beijing. In addition to the numerous reasons mentioned above, Freedom specifically took up for Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. In a text on November 2 Shuai levied allegations of sexual assault against former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli. Subsequent to that text, it disappeared from the internet by no action of Shuai’s, followed by rumors of her disappearance from the public eye. Shuai is a former world number one tennis player in doubles competition as well as winner of two major titles and a three-time Olympian.

Consequently, upon word of Shuai’s sexual assault allegeations and disappearance, the Women’s Tennis Association pulled all of its future tournaments from China. Such a decision is likely to “cost women’s tennis hundreds of millions of dollars in future revenue” according to WTA Chief Executive Steve Simon, as reported in The Wall Street Journal, on December 2. “If powerful people can suppress the voices of women and sweep allegations of sexual assault under the rug, then the basis on which the WTA was founded - equality for women - would suffer an immense setback,” said Simon.

Although Shuai eventually made what were clearly staged public appearances, Simon remained unsatisfied. “While we know where Peng is, I have serious doubts that she is free, safe, and not subject to censorship, coercion, and intimidation,” he said.

Simon may have a point, as on December 20 Shuai claimed her initial allegation was misunderstood, that she was never under house arrest, and that the CCP is not watching her. The WTA responded with a statement. “We remain steadfast in our call for a full, fair, and transparent investigation, without censorship, into her allegation of sexual assault, which is the issue that gave rise to our initial concern.”

In a sleight of hand misdirection, the CCP accused the WTA of politicizing its decision to pull tournaments out of China, and accused the United States of grandstanding regarding its announced diplomatic boycott. Feigning the wounded party, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “This severely tarnishes the spirit of the Olympic Charter.” As if the behavior of the CCP for decades is a sterling example of fair play and sportsmanship.

Enes Kanter Freedom applauded the actions taken by the WTA, called on other major sports leagues to do likewise, and for the IOC to move the upcoming Beijing Olympics scheduled to run February 4-22 of next year. “All the gold medals in the world aren’t worth selling your morals, values, and principles to the Chinese Communist Party,” said Freedom.

“It’s time to wake up and speak up. Someone has to do it. So many athletes, actors, singers out there - they’re scared - they care too much about their money. They care too much about their endorsement deals. They care too much about what the teams they play for are going to say. It should be morals and principles over money. People’s lives depend on this. This is so important - especially with athletes - so many out there that idolize us - if we don’t stand up against this dictatorship, who will?

The Chinese Communist Party does not represent the Olympic values - excellence, respect, friendship, and they are a brutal dictatorship. They engage in censorship, they don’t respect human rights, and they hide the truth. There’s a genocide happening; there are millions of people in concentration camps getting tortured and gang raped every day. To put the Olympics in a country like this, it’s unacceptable. I feel like we should… push to move the games somewhere else,” said Freedom.

IOC Vice President John Coates offered a weak-kneed statement. “We have no ability to go into a country and tell them what to do. All we can do is to award the Olympics to a country, under conditions set out in a host contract.” What the hell does that mean? Beijing should have never been awarded these games in the first place. The behavior of the CCP has been well documented for decades.

The weakness of the IOC today is reminiscent of the inability of the American Olympic Committee to boycott the 1936 Games of the XI Summer Olympics - the Berlin Games - the Nazi Olympics. Inability or a lack of motivation on racial grounds. The 1936 Summer Games had been awarded to Berlin in 1931, two years prior to Hitler’s rise to power, and while Germany was still a parliamentary democracy, suffering that it was in the throes of the depression.

Hitler and the Nazis did a virtual 180 regarding the hosting of the Olympics - from initially opposing the games, whose motto was a “commitment to world peace and international understanding,” which clearly ran contrary to the Nazis positions of death and destruction, to becoming willing hosts of the “biggest and best Olympic party ever.” (1, 2) The games would become a tool for the Nazi propaganda machine.

Attendance at the Berlin Games would be the highest for the day and media coverage also reached its height. In addition to print and radio, the 1936 Summer Olympics saw the first live telecast - “live in black and white to athletes in the Olympic Village and to the wider public in 25 special viewing rooms located in Berlin and Potsdam. This was the first time a sporting event had ever been seen live on television screens.” (3)

After Hitler was installed as Chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg on January 30, 1933, his anti-Jewish decrees were instituted one by one. In that same year, the German Swimming Association banned Jews; Germany’s Davis Cup tennis team gave the boot to one its best players, as he was Jewish; and the German Boxing Federation barred Jews from fighting or officiating. (4) Also in April 1933 a Germany-wide boycott of Jewish-owned businesses ensued.

Ironically, the international boycott attempt began in the United States, “a nation whose professed commitment to equality of opportunity in sports.” (5) This was 1933. Not for another 14 years would Major League Baseball begin to integrate with Jackie Robinson playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Had the United States actually boycotted the Nazi Games, more than likely France and Great Britain would have followed suit. (6) This in turn might have encouraged other European nations from participating in Hitler’s Propaganda Olympiad.

Appeals to American Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage fell on deaf ears as he supported the Olympic Games, and that they should remain in Berlin. Also, take note that Brundage was “infamous for his racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism.” (7)

In an attempt to quell further boycott scuttlebutt, the Hitler regime issued a statement that Germany would uphold the Olympic Charter and welcomed “competitors of all races.” (8) But with Hitler and the Nazis, it was promises made, promises never kept. All of this talk of boycott until this point was still in 1933, and Brundage submitted that “the Games are not until 1936 and there… will be many changes in the next three years.” (9) For the Jewish community in Germany those changes meant going from bad to worse.

The trusting of Hitler where the Olympics in general and Jewish participation on the German national team in particular were concerned, should have been a harbinger of how he would deal with Europe in general, and Great Britain Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain specifically as Hitler inched closer to war.

In a fact-finding tour in 1934, Brundage received assurances “that there will be no discrimination in Berlin against Jews.” (10) That did not lessen the American Jewish community’s call for a boycott of the 1936 Summer Olympics. Yet, on September 26, 1934 the American Olympic Committee voted to officially participate in the Nazi Olympics. The vote of the AOC was unanimous. (11) 

Although awarded in 1931, the IOC could have revoked that award of the Summer Games to Berlin, just as they should with Beijing now, in 2021. The 1980 boycott by the United States of the Summer Olympics in the former Soviet Union was justified, according to then President Jimmy Carter, because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.  The ongoing situation in China is worse. The Soviet boycott of the Summer Games in 1984 held in Los Angeles was simply a revenge boycott.

Move the 2022 Winter Olympic Games from Beijing to the joint sites of Lake Placid, New York and Montreal, Quebec. The two cities are amply equipped to host winter sports and are a mere 112 miles apart. Lake Placid hosted two Olympics the III and XIII games in 1932 and 1980 - the site of the famous “Miracle on Ice.” Montreal, which hosted the XXI Summer Games in 1976, has stadiums, arenas, and sites for all the ice sports. 

As President Ronald Reagan often said, “it can be done,” and if not the official Olympic Games, then call them the Freedom Games. Let not history repeat itself. Boycott Beijing, cancel all the advertising, and do not even televise the games in the United States. If we stand up for nothing, we will most certainly fall for anything.

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

Sources/Notes

(1) Large, Clay David Nazi Games the Olympics of 1936. W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2007 (P. 12)

(2) Ibid.

(3) www.guinnessworldrecords.com

(4) Large, (P. 65)

(5) Large, (P. 69)

(6) Ibid.

(7) The Nation, June 25, 2020

(8) Large, (P. 71)

(9) Large, (P. 74)

(10) Large, (P. 79)

(11) Large, (P. 79-80)

Biden Nominates Socialist to Currency Office

Biden Nominates Socialist to Currency Office
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
November 22, 2021

“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.” This is a favorite quote from Abraham Lincoln. This is aptly applicable regarding Joe Biden nominating Saule Omarova to become the Comptroller of the Currency. While many have accused the Biden administration of creeping toward socialism, such an appointment demonstrates the sprint toward socialism.

“The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is an independent bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  The OCC charters, regulates, and supervises all national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks.

We ensure that the banks we supervise operate in a safe and sound manner, provide fair access to financial services, treat customers fairly, and comply with applicable laws and regulations. The OCC received no appropriations from Congress.” (occ.treas.gov) 

This is a very important position to which Omarova has been nominated and Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee are finding serious pause to approve this nominee based upon her own words. Right out of the gate it should be known that Omarova, currently a law professor at Cornell University, is a native of Kazakhstan while it still fell under the control of the then Soviet Union. She served at one time as an advisor in the Treasury Department, and has solid academic bona fides. Omarova earned her B.A. at Moscow State University, graduating in 1989 on the Lenin Personal Academic Scholarship prior to immigrating to the United States in 1991. Once in the U.S. Omarova earned both her M.A. and Pd.D. at the University of Wisconsin, and her J.D. from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.

While at Moscow State, Omarova wrote her thesis entitled “Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in The Capital.” When questioned about her thesis, she claimed to have forgotten about it ever since, yet it remained on her resume through 2017, and testified before the Banking Committee that she is unable to locate the document.

During Senator John Kennedy’s (R-LA) questioning of Omarova on Thursday, November 18, he pointed out that she joined a Marxist Facebook group discussing socialist and anti-capitalist views. He noted that Omarova, in a Canadian documentary, called the financial services industry, “a quintessential asshole industry.” Kennedy indicated Omarova wrote a paper calling for the federal government to set wages, food, and gas prices. 

In her 2020 paper “The Climate Case for National Divestment Authority,” Omarova supported having the federal government bankrupt the gas and oil industry in an effort to tackle climate change, said Kennedy. Starve them at their source of capital; if they go bankrupt, that would be a good thing, according to Omarova

“You have the right to believe every one of these things, you do,” said Kennedy to Omarova. “I don’t mean you any disrespect - I don’t know whether to call you professor or comrade,” he concluded.

Continuing with the theme of the gas and oil industry, Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) asked Omarova if higher gas prices are a good or bad thing for America. Saying she wasn’t sure, clearly Omarova had difficulty answering the question, said Hagerty. The Senator then read a direct quote from Omarova. “A lot of the smaller players in coal and oil and gas ought to probably go bankrupt in short order - at least we want them to go bankrupt - if we want to tackle climate change.”

Biden already destroyed American energy independence, continued Hagerty, adding that Omarova supported Operation Choke Point. This is a program where government officials would intimidate banks to stop lending to lawful American businesses that Democrats didn’t like. Called Operation Choke Point because the government abused its authority to try to choke off the financial oxygen from those targeted lawful American businesses.

Millions of Americans’ livelihoods depend upon employment within the gas and oil industry, while gas prices continue soaring, and although it’s not yet winter, the Biden administration wants to further cut gas and oil.

Calling for the need to abolish bank accounts in favor of mandatory accounts established with the Federal Reserve, where the Fed will have access to our personal data, Omarova wrote a 70 page article for the October 2021 issue of the Vanderbilt Law Review. Entitled “The People’s Ledger: How to Democratize Money and Finance the Economy,” it becomes obvious Omarova’s goals include federalizing the American people’s personal bank accounts. Then, our own money will be used to finance the economy at will, not just under the IRS rules.

“It offers a blueprint for a comprehensive restructuring of the central bank balance sheet as the basis for redesigning the core architecture of modern finance. Focusing on the U.S. Federal Reserve System (“the Fed”), the Article outlines a series of structural reforms that would radically redefine the role of a central bank as the ultimate public platform for generating, modulating, and allocating financial resources in a democratic economy—the People’s Ledger.” Omarova’s words from the preamble summary of her article.

And dangerous words at that, especially when coupled with the following from the introduction of her article. “Americans are demanding a greater say in the distribution and use of financial resources.” Let that swirl around “the little grey cells,” as fictional detective Hercule Poirot often remarked. The distribution and use of financial resources - sure smacks of socialism at least, communism at worst. On what Omarova bases this assertion is unstated, but only socialist leaning indoctrinated students and those of that generation who clearly never properly learned the basics of economics would support such a radical notion. Federalizing American bank accounts to be controlled by the Fed? What could possibly go wrong? See also the American public education system and the United States Postal Service.

In her support of Omarova’s nomination, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) called her an independent voice while referring to the banking industry as “their Republican buddies.” Warren should do her due diligence and learn how the Democrats raked in a small fortune from the banking industry in campaign contributions.

Omarova is deeply critical of the free enterprise system, privately allocating capital and expressing support of government allocation of capital. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) demonstrated Omarova’s support of government allocation of capital. “We need to correct the misallocation of money and credit in the U.S. economy, and we need to correct it on a systemic level…. We need to make sure banks channel money and financial resources precisely where, as the nation, as a community really need it to go,” read Toomey from a transcript of a podcast in which Omarova was a participant in June of this year.

Toomey read more of Omarova back to her during the Senate Banking Committee hearing. “We need to think about the role of the federal government vis a vis private business. It’s a team sport and in a team sport we all win or we all lose under the same circumstances, and ya know, every team requires a captain, and so the federal government should step into that role and should become the captain in terms of allocation of resources. And I think that the government needs to step into private market operations. Right? In order to align the incentives of individual corporations with the interest of the public.” Toomey noted reading this long quote in order to provide context.

Far too often throughout the hearing Omarova would either deny what the real meaning of her words meant, or claim they were being taken out of context. Every quote? Every comment? Every 70 page article? Simply not plausible. This nominee is simply too dangerous to be installed into such an important position being able to make life altering decisions for millions of Americans.

“You get to decide who gets to open a bank and who doesn’t. You get to decide what kind of loans get to be made, and which ones can’t. You could forbid a bank from a merger. You could forbid a bank from opening new branches. You could create or destroy a whole category of bank charters. You could decide which kinds of loans receive favorable regulatory treatment through the CRA eligibility. And every bank would know that their fate is, to a very large degree, in your hands, and they would know what your views are about the banking industry, about the private allocation of capital. This is what’s so chilling. I think this answers the question of why so many, including community banks, are very, very concerned about where you would take the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,” said Toomey.

Omarova is a Biden nominee for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency with potentially far too great powers and possessing far too dangerous ideas that are anti-democratic, anti-capitalist, and most assuredly strongly socialist. Throughout her hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Omarova spent some of her time suggesting that because she is an immigrant, a woman, and a minority is why she is being challenged so vigorously. Ah, woe is me, they don’t like me, that’s why they won’t let me join their club. No, it’s because her ideas are dangerous, frightening, and most assuredly not right for the United States of America. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) said it is the concerns the senators have with Omarova’s extensive written record, and not the “modern day McCarthyism” as Senator Warren said.

Omarova spent most of her time denying the true measure of a career’s worth of words, writings, and publicly spoken beliefs. Is the committee to believe she has turned on a dime to suggest otherwise? The proof is in the details and without question, Omarova should be denied the Comptroller of the Currency post. Call your United States senators and politely tell them to vote against this nominee. This number, 202-224-3121, will reach the United States Senate switchboard - they can forward your call to the correct senator’s office.

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

Winsome Sears - Winner for Virginia

Winsome Sears - Winner for Virginia
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn 
November 2, 2021

“What you’re looking at is the American dream.” Thus began the victory speech by newly elected Virginia Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears, peppered by cheers, applause, and a chorus of “Win-some, Win-some,” before a patient and packed house in Chantilly where the GOP held their election night headquarters.

It was shortly before 1 AM, by which time Glenn Youngkin, also a Republican, had been declared the winner in governor’s race, that Sears, a United States Marine veteran, took to the stage, flanked by her husband Terence, also a Marine, and two adult daughters, Katia and Janel.

Being elected Lt. Gov., Sears becomes the first Black female to win statewide office in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In fact, in 2001, Sears became the first, and still only, Black Republican woman elected to the House of Delegates in Virginia, winning in an upset over a 20-year Democrat incumbent.

Along her path, the 57-year-old native of Kingston, Jamaica ran a homeless shelter and served as Vice President of the Virginia State Board of Education. Education was a vital plank of Sears’ campaign, although it was Youngkin who garnered the most attention during the campaign as the education candidate. (This became especially true following the September 28 gubernatorial debate where Youngkin’s Democrat opponent Terry McAuliffe said “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what to teach…. I’m not going to let parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions.”) Sears herself earned a B.A. at Old Dominion University in English with a minor in Economics and an M.A. at Regent University in Organizational Leadership.

Sears’ American dream actually began seven months prior to her own birth when her father immigrated to the United States on August 11, 1963 with a mere “$1.75 in his pocket.” Sears would later ask her father why he would come to the United States during a time as turbulent as the Civil Rights Movement. “Because America is where the jobs and opportunities are,” he told his daughter.

“When I joined the Marines I was still a Jamaican. But I was willing to die for this country,” Sears said proudly, adding she is “proud to be American and its future,” as the crowd began to chant “U-S-A, U-S-A!”

“There are those who want to divide us and we must not let that happen. They would like us to believe we are back in 1963 when my father came…. We can live where we want. We can eat where we want.  We own the water fountains,” said Sears. “We have elected a Black president - twice. Here I am - living proof! In case you haven’t noticed, I am Black and I have been Black all my life,” continued Sears to increasing applause and cheers.

Sears was referencing McAuliffe and his team calling Youngkin and his team white supremacists. Apparently, McAuliffe was not paying attention as Virginia elected a Black Republican Lieutenant Governor, and a Cuban-American Republican Attorney General in Jason Miyares.

And in spite of these glaringly idiotic statements by the tonedeaf left, the likes of disgraced former ESPN sports reporter Jemele Hill doubled down on this failed theme. Mere minutes after Sears gave her impassioned and inspiring victory speech, Hill, herself who is Black, Tweeted “It’s not the messaging, folks, This country simply loves white supremacy.”  Apparently Hill is not just tonedeaf, but colorblind as well. But take it from whence it comes - Hill was suspended in 2017 and ultimately fired in 2018. She repeatedly politicized her work for the sport network supporting the kneeling of athletes during the National Anthem, called for the boycott of advertisers, and for the coup de grace, called President Donald Trump a white supremacist on September 11, 2017 - statement ESPN disavowed. 

Joy Reid of the far-left MSNBC, supposedly a reporter, opined “Education [using air quotes], which is code for white parents don’t like the idea of teaching about race…. You have to be willing to vocalize that these Republicans are dangerous.” This is about a Commonwealth that cast more than 1.66 million votes for Sears and nearly that many for Miyares in their victories.

Nicolle Wallace, also of MSNBC, piled on with a lie that has been running rampant in progressive circles, that “Critical Race Theory, which isn’t real, turned the suburbs 15 points.” Let’s put an end to this nonsense - CRT IS real, and there is written proof it is embedded in Virginia’s educational system. But not for long, should Youngkin fulfill his promise of banning the controversial and clearly racist ideology designed to conquer and divide school children into indelibly permanent classes of victim and victimizer. 

“But that’s not what this is about,” said Sears. She listed a litany of goals for the upcoming administration such as citizens keeping more of their own money, safer neighborhoods, and “our children are going to get a good education. Education lifted my father out of poverty. Education lifted me out of poverty. Education will lift us all out of poverty,” declared the Lt. Gov.-Elect, adding that children will “not just survive, but thrive, with marketable skills and create generational wealth. We will have transparent government.”

“This is a historic night. I did not set out to make history. I just wanted to leave it better than I found it,” said Sears, paraphrasing a strongly held American Indian belief. “Help is on the way. The cavalry has arrived,” concluded Sears to more applause as she thanked her family, supporters, and team on such a momentous time in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He lived in Northern Virginia from 2001-2011 and was a one-time candidate for public office there.

Revenge of the Braves

Revenge of the Braves
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
October 25, 2021

For the first time since 1999 the Atlanta Braves will represent the National League in the World Series. While the series will open Tuesday, October 26 in Houston as the Astros will be the American League standard bearer, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred may not be welcome in either city.

Although Manfred was at the helm of MLB during the height of the Astros cheating scandal, only a couple players remain with the team. However, the Commish had better bring an umbrella to Truist Park in Atlanta for Game Three on Friday as the fans will rain down boos upon him like that of a monsoon for the dastardly act of spiriting away to Denver this year’s MLB All-Star Game from the home of the Braves.

Floundering in the middle of the National League Eastern division around the time of that All-Star break in mid-July, postseason seemed an out of reach fantasy, especially after losing two of their best players to serious injuries. Two-thirds of the Braves starting outfield went down for the count with season ending injuries - right fielder Ronald Acuna, Jr., one of MLB’s most exciting young players, and left fielder Marcell Ozuna. 

Heading into the All-Star break the Braves found themselves in third place with a record of a mediocre 44-45, and an even worse tally of 51-54 at the July 30 trading deadline. But the Braves maintained a busy trading schedule, swapping for right hand relief pitcher Richard Rodriguez and four outfielders, Adam Duvall, Eddie Rosario, Jorge Soler, and the pearl-clad right fielder Joc Pederson, having such a fine postseason, he has been dubbed “Joctober.” Each of them, save for Rodriguez, had a better season once they joined the Braves, and the Braves took off like a rocket, finishing the last third of the season 37-19, for an overall record of 88-73, winning the East. Following the division win, the Braves dispatched the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Divisional Series, before sending the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers home in the National League Championship Series, setting up their date with the Astros in the World Series.

Now, the Braves are getting their revenge on Major League Baseball. After losing the All-Star Game and the MLB Draft to Denver for reasons that contradict reality, Manfred, who has made myriad awful decisions during his tempestuous tenure as MLB Commissioner, surrendered to the woke mob when announcing the move on April 2 that this is “the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport.”

Stripping the city of Atlanta of the MLB All-Star Game was the misguided punishment levied by Manfred and MLB in response to the new Georgia voting laws. According to those opposing the amended law, who, quite frankly had not bothered to read it, say it limits minority access to the ballot and is a direct challenge to voters attempting to cast ballots by mail or in person, sans valid identification. 

In acts of cowardice and hypocrisy, Manfred, who obviously had also not read the bill/law, succumbed to the irrationality of the woke crowd and took their hysterical complaints at “face value,” said Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. The Georgia legislature “passed common sense voting laws” to protect the integrity of elections, added Carr. 

People in Georgia support voter ID laws and the integrity of the drop boxes, said Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R), who signed the bill into law on March 25 of this year, prompting the outcry of the ignorant and Manfred’s feeble decision on April 2. Kemp indicated that this has been the “largest African-American voter turnout in the nation since 2018.” The governor added that early voting was occurring currently, “with no horror stories going on.” Kemp further pointed out that Colorado, the host of the All-Star Game, and Iowa, the August 12 host of the Chicago White Sox-New York Yankees Field of Dreams game, have “more restrictive voting laws than Georgia.”

“Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions at the ballot box,” said Manfred. Had Manfred bothered to conduct his due diligence and simply read the 95 page bill outlining the truth about the voting laws, all of this injudiciousness could have been avoided. Joe Biden also supported Manfred’s decision, yet another manner of knowing it was shortsighted from jump. (It should be noted that Biden’s adopted home state of Delaware does not enjoy early voting - much stricter than Georgia.) Most reports defining the bill as restrictive did so without any specific examples from the legislation itself.

ABC News reported on June 2, that Job Creators Network, a non-partisan business organization, filed a lawsuit for one billion dollars in punitive damages against Major League Baseball, the MLB Players Association, Manfred, and MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark as co-defendants. The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York, the home base of Major League Baseball’s offices. Businesses, many minority owned, were predicted to lose $100 million during All-Star weekend. ABC inaccurately reported upon aspects of the bill/law, that, had they bothered to read the 95 page document, could have been avoided. Simple journalistic integrity.

While Manfred decided voter identification was too restrictive, it should be noted that across Major and Minor League Baseball, ID is required at stadium will call windows.

Job Creators Network sent a letter to Manfred objecting to his terrible decision, noting the importance of the All-Star Game to Atlanta and minority business owners. “Your decision is punishing the very group you claim to be defending,” wrote Alfredo Ortiz, representing Job Creators. “Small businesses in Georgia are hurting, and you pulled a multi-million dollar rug out from underneath them…. Don’t let activist groups weaponize America’s pastime to push radical ideas that Major League Baseball fans don’t support,” continued Ortiz.

“When big business teams up with politicians, they make bad decisions, and small businesses and their hardworking employees suffer the most,” said Darrell Anderson, a Black owner of a limousine service. “Politics should be decided at the ballot box. It has no place in making business decisions, like where to hold the All-Star Game,” continued Anderson, owner of ASG - Airport Shuttle Group, LLC.

According to a Rasmussen poll, the majority of Black voters opposed moving the All-Star Game out of Atlanta.

And from the flip side, it is “ridiculous to inject politics in baseball,” Governor Kemp said, while eagerly awaiting Game Three of the Fall Classic to take the field at Truist Park in Cobb County, Georgia.

Play Ball!, says this lifelong New York Mets fan, who in good conscience cannot root for the Braves, as they are divisional archrivals.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. The New Jersey native has been a loyal Mets fan since 1972. Ironically, this column was written on the 35th anniversary of the famed Mookie Wilson-Bill Buckner, Game Six of the 1986 World Series. Two nights later, the Mets would wrap up that World Series against the Boston Red Sox. The Mets have not won a World Series since. 

Biden's Meandering March Toward Socialism

Biden’s Meandering March Toward Socialism
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
October 20, 2021

I don’t care where they came from. I don’t care why they came here. If they are here illegally, they have broken the laws of the United States of America and are entitled to absolutely nothing, except a one way return ticket to their country of origin. Before they are appropriately deported, they must be fingerprinted and photographed - a national database must be established.

As for the unmitigated hypocrisy of Joe Biden and his cronies, if what they think is following the science, the science must be schizophrenic. Here’s the proof - as admitted by Biden press shill, Jen Psaki - that workers (American citizens) employed at a company of 100 or more employees must be vaccinated or risk losing their jobs and their ability to support their families. Yet, illegals, committing a crime by their mere presence in this country, are neither subjected to a Covid test or a mandatory vaccine. Psaki’s response: “Yes, that’s right.”

Why are the nation’s employers running scared of the Biden administration? Whether schools, hospitals, police and fire departments, corporations, manufacturers, and/or airlines - if they ALL simply refuse to mandate their employees to put a drug they may not want or need into their bodies. What do these employers think will happen? They will get fined $700,000? How does the government expect to collect this money - a punishment for not adhering to Biden’s hypocritical and inconsistent edicts? The vaccine-tax police? Employers of the nation UNITE.

If individuals want the vaccine - good - G-d bless. If they don’t, that’s good too, and G-d bless. The federal government cannot legally force drugs into our bodies. Are the vaccine police going to invade our homes, strap us down, and jab us with a needle full of a drug we may not need or want? This totalitarian behavior by the federal government will only become more severe and impactful on our lives. This is the slippery slope - first a drug - and people follow blindly - oh, right, it’s a public health crisis - but what next? Will the government ban certain foods because the Department of Health and Human Services determines are unhealthy for the general public? Or banning religious rites and practices because the government does not support or understand them?

The hypocrisy continues where public gatherings are concerned. BLM rallies and Antifa riots, arson, and vandalism are unpunished, acceptable activities, but a peaceful motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD is demonized as are outdoor Independence Day gatherings.

Congress has exempted itself from the Covid vaccine. What do they know that the rest of us don’t? Why have many thousands of doctors and nurses put their employment at risk because they have opted out of the vaccine? Again, what do they know that the rest of us don’t? Why is the federal government willing to have all these people, and possibly hundreds of thousands more, lose jobs heretofore deemed vital and essential for the past year and a half? Why is the federal government willing to put the American people in harm's way by weakening our military, numerous police and fire departments, as well as hospitals by having those essential workers fired for standing up for their principles, and their right to not put a drug in their bodies they may not want or need? Does this make America safer or stronger? 

For that matter, why should anyone spend their hard earned money in stores where rampant shoplifting goes unchallenged or unprosecuted? But that’s an issue involving well placed, far left, progressive district attorneys hand picked by the evil George Soros for the purpose of continuing to destroy the United States. But that’s not the only reason store shelves are increasingly bare.

The supply chain crisis is further impacted by the missing employees and increasingly exacerbated by the federal government continuing to encourage people to stay home instead of returning to their jobs.

“The shelves in our grocery stores are starting to resemble Third World countries,” said US Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), also a veteran having spent time the world over on active duty.

And taxes will rise to pay those not working as well as the ever steadily increasing numbers of illegals continuing to invade our borders - here illegally, yet being given free healthcare, education, food stamps, housing, and even obtaining driver’s licenses. Seven to eight billion people cannot be refugees and thus take refuge in the United States. The American taxpayer cannot continue to foot these bills, nor should they be required to do so. Eventually the American taxpayer will get tired of doing so, stop working, and like any socialist society, the government will run out of other people’s money.

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

9-11: 20 Years Later - Are We Any Safer?

9-11: 20 Years Later - Are We Any Safer?

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

August 30, 2021

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. That the longest war in United States history should come to a shocking conclusion in abject failure on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack perpetrated on American soil is beyond disappointing to the men and women who wear and have worn the uniform of the American military. In fact, it should be disappointing to all Americans.

The good intentions to which I refer are the hopes I had in writing a different column regarding the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, but it is impossible to ignore the two-ton elephant in the room - the crumbling failure in Afghanistan as after 20 years of keeping the Taliban at bay, the terror group captured the Islamic nation in less than two weeks. Afghanistan fell like a hot knife through butter. Does that make the United States any safer?

Joe Biden, in less than eight months in the White House, has become Jimmy Carter Redux, giving an entire nation a serious case of acid reflux, while all else is faltering around him - inflation on the rise, a southern border masquerading as a sieve, severe indoctrination in our public schools, creeping socialism, and a nation more divided than at any time since the War Between the States (1861-65). Biden’s absolute failure in Afghanistan is the disaster at the Bay of Pigs (Cuba 1961), the optics and the fall of Saigon (Vietnam 1975), the potentiality of a worse hostage crisis than that of Iran (1979-81), and a greater slaughter than Benghazi, all rolled into one - on steroids. Does that make the United States any safer?

Under feckless leadership, the United States is no safer, no smarter, and certainly no stronger than it was on September 10, 2001. While four presidents failed to learn from history - how the Soviets could not defeat the Afghan-Mujahideen from 1979-89, it was the ineffectiveness of Biden to extract Americans and their allies from Afghanistan in an appropriate, safe, secure manner. The incompetence of Biden, his Defense Department under General Lloyd Allen, his State Department under Antony Blinken, and his Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley has created the quagmire that is the back-asswards retreat and surrender in Afghanistan. Does that make the United States any safer?

That heads have not rolled in the form of firings and resignations, especially after the suicide bombings leaving 13 US servicemen and women slaughtered at the hands of ISIS-K is unconscionable. Biden and his minions have the blood of those brave, honorable men and women on their hands. As left wing progressives are fond of saying when wishing to honor some slain criminal, “say their names,” do just that here. Say their names:

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, Rio Bravo, TX

Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, Sacramento, CA

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, Salt Lake City, UT

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, Corryton, TN

Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, Indio, CA

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, Jackson, WY

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, Norco, CA

Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, Omaha, NE

Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario-Pichardo, 25, Lawrence, MA

Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, Logansport, IN

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, St. Charles, MO

Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, Berlin Heights, OH

May their memories always be for a blessing, and may their service to a great and grateful nation not have been in vain, nor ever forgotten. 

While these 13 heroes are laid to rest back home on American soil, we recall the nearly 3,000 men, women, and children murdered on September 11, 2001. The failure of August 2021 is an insult to the memories of all those murdered on 9/11 in Manhattan, Arlington, VA, and Shanksville, PA, as well as every man and woman who has worn an American military uniform fighting the never ending war on terror.

We did not learn from history. The savage, G-dless enemy - Taliban, al-Qaeda, ISIS, ISIS-K, as well as every Muslim extremist, and every Islamic terrorist has the patience of Job, but the demonic will of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, - whether 20 years or 20 decades, they will wait us out, as has been evidenced in Afghanistan. Does that make the United States any safer?

The currently weak-kneed United States doesn’t have the stomach for a long drawn out military engagement - even overseas. Secretary Allen and Chairman Milley have committed their all too valuable time to testifying before Congress about white rage and racism in the US military and attempting social engineering with said military while not returning to the days when our allies could depend upon the United States and our enemies feared the United States. Does that make the United States any safer?

Today, and this will be Biden’s legacy, the United States is an undependable laughingstock overseas, and more reviled at home than ever before - including during the turbulent 1960s and the entirety of our involvement in Vietnam. Indoctrination, and now the full court press for Critical Race Theory in the classrooms, running rampant in American public schools, is at an all time high, but this did not commence yesterday. No, this has been ongoing for more than a generation - anti-American Americans who obviously never learned the history of the United States, anti-American Americans not understanding context and the tremendous progress achieved in the United States. Does that make the United States any safer?

I would trade all the US-born malcontents for the Cubans and Hong Kongers waving American flags at great personal peril to life and limb for the freedoms they so richly deserve in their homelands. The United States women’s soccer team, other Olympians who turned their backs on the American flag, who behave disrespectfully during the playing and singing of the Star Spangled Banner, and the leader of these classless snowflakes - Colin Kaepernick should try pulling that crap and living in Angola, China, Cuba, North Korea, Russia, or Venezuela. See how that works out for them. They can thank the veterans in wheelchairs who fought for those malcontents’ right to be malcontents and take a knee.

Those soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen - volunteers - who signed a blank check for up to and including the ultimate sacrifice, made their sacrifices to enable those unappreciative, ungrateful, anti-American Americans to live lives of unbridled hedonism while spitting on the memories of those who gave their all and left it all on the battlefield. Does that make the United States any safer?

The hundreds of police and firefighters who were murdered on September 11, 2001 did not stop their rescue attempts to check out the skin color of those they were rescuing. Those first responders did not ask about the race, religion, ethnic background, or sexual orientation of those rescued either. No; they plunged headfirst into danger and the face of death in efforts to serve and rescue as many people as possible.

For the 20th year we will pay homage and respect to the fallen who were murdered by Muslim 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. 

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

Between 7:59 AM and 8:42 AM four flights take off from Boston’s Logan, Washington’s Dulles, and Newark airports, each 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 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 and/or the Capitol Building were the presumed targets. This is an example of heroism, knowingly sacrificing their lives in an effort to prevent thousands more from perishing had that plane reached its intended target.

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

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

5:20 PM: World Trade Center #7 collapses. The 47 story building had already been evacuated and no fatalities are reported.

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

May the memories of the 2,977 murdered on September 11, 2001 always be for a blessing.

U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), a Green Beret and Afghan War veteran, said “America is less safe and in a worse position than in 2001.” The US has no bases in the region, now that Biden surrendered Bagram Air Base to the Taliban. Does that make the United States any safer? 

There is not one single country surrounding Afghanistan that will allow the United States to base there or conduct intel ops. Afghanistan, population about 38 million, is surrounded by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north, Pakistan to the east and south, and Iran to the west, is roughly the size of Texas. 

Biden, and his foreign policy team of Keystone Cops, who should all be standing in the unemployment line, conducted his entire evacuation backwards. Biden was pulling troops out of Afghanistan before all Americans and SIV (Special Immigrant Visas) holders could be extracted. Biden left more than $80 billion worth of American military and technological equipment behind, abandoned the base at Agram, and surrendered the country to the Taliban - an unmitigated embarrassment. Does that make the United States any safer?

The strategy that should have been implemented, and what President Donald Trump and U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) declared they would have enacted, and what makes the most sense, was to extract all Americans and qualified allies first, demilitarize or destroy equipment unable to be removed, bomb your own bases, THEN the military turns out the lights and gets the hell out of Dodge.

As that order was not followed, when the last five American military planes took off from the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul on August 30, on orders from Washington, DC, some Americans and Afghan allied translators holding SIV were left behind. No additional Americans were on board any of those last five planes. Those left behind are in grave danger, as the Taliban possesses American biometric scanners, able to identify people via eyescans. Taliban terrorists are going door to door looking for Americans and their Afghan allies, and not because they are looking to take up a game of cricket. A young Afghan girl not wearing a head covering was shot and a popular Afghan folk singer was murdered for playing music. More senseless death. Pray for the women, children, teachers, and journalists that remain in Afghanistan. Does that make the United States any safer?

Ultimately, the government of the United States handed Afghanistan back to the same terror group that controlled the country on September 11, 2001 - the Taliban. It will once again become a breeding ground for al-Qaeda, ISIS-K, and Taliban terrorists. While the war in Afghanistan may be over, the war on terror most assuredly is not. The sleeper cells are awakening. With the porous southern border of the United States, not expecting terror activity in the United States would be naive. That said, our American troops fought valiantly and served honorably; it was the United States government that did not leave Afghanistan with honor. It is shameful that anyone has been left behind. Does that make the United States any safer?

The United States should take a long break from nation building and worry about fixing the myriad problems that have beset this country over the last several generations. Quite frankly, the U.S. should have left Afghanistan in 2011 following the long overdue killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Genuine infrastructure problems need solving - crumbling roads, bridges, dams, airports, getting internet access for all Americans. Many of these projects can and should be public-private partnerships. Breaking the grip by teachers unions over American public education must be a priority, as well as keeping CRT out of the classrooms. More charter, parochial, and private schools should be created to foster a system of competition forcing schools to improve or close. Competition - the spirit of American capitalism; capitalism - the spirit of American invention, freedom, growth, and progress.

On the 20th anniversary of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 the United States is at a crossroads, a tipping point. This is, as Ronald Reagan said in a great speech he gave in 1964, “A Time for Choosing.” Will we allow the woke anti-American Americans to turn the United States into a socialist country with a loss of the freedoms found in the Constitution - speech, religion, assembly, the right to defend oneself and one’s property? Will we continue to bow to the woke tech-corporate-media triumvirate of evil, or will we finally stand up, speak up, take back our rights, take back our country and retain our G-d given freedoms and tell the woke that they don’t speak for real Americans. Am I the only one wishing for the return to the civility that was September 12, 2001 (minus the death and destruction)? This is a time for choosing, and I choose freedom. There is a growing band of Cubans and Hong Kongers who have that spirit that once reigned in the United States. It’s time we choose to recapture that spirit and those freedoms. May G-d continue to bless these United States of America.

One of my favorite Ronald Reagan quotes is aptly appropriate here. “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it, and then hand it to them with the well fought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same. And if you and I don’t do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”

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.