George Clooney, Bobby Bales & the Right Hand of God.....

We are undergoing our annual 'March Madness' season in which competing university basketball teams vie for top honors. This was the theme that took O and Dave to Ohio to watch a game. To be sure, the spotlight was on them; forget the players. Oddly, Matt, the Telegraph's cartoonist, had the pair dressed in American Football gear playing in front of the White House. I found the connection a bit remote  given this is the basketball season.

One hot item here is why Master Sergeant Bobby Bales snapped. Nobody seems to be able to provide an answer noting that he was a decent lad with strong Army loyalties and eager to win the hearts and minds of the enemy. He did have an anger management issue earlier in life that almost led to incarceration. Supporters also cite his three tours in Iraq followed by a fourth in Afghanistan which he reportedly did not want. Instead, observers say, he hoped for a stateside position and an upgrade in rank, which he did not get. Clearly, he went off the deep end, but even that story is vague and currently leaves many how and why type questions unanswered. It should all come out soon enough.

We may have another bungling, know-it-all celebrity like Bono on our hands. Now, George Clooney feels compelled to lend his international development experience to the people of South Sudan. He has even testified before Congress, gotten himself arrested in Washington for illegally protesting and has grabbed the headlines for the past few days. I cannot help but think why the many no-name citizens and government observers dealing with the Sudan never got their hour upon the stage.

The issue is fairly clear, or at least one reporter thinks so. Russia is buying oil from Sudan. This oil comes from South Sudan and is piped to the Sudan for refining and export. Payments to South Sudan for their crude have not been forthcoming from the Sudan, so the southerners cut off the supply. This ticked off the Sudanese and pissed off the Russians. So, Sudan restarted military actions against South Sudan citizens. Proof of this was arranged by Clooney who convinced people in the satellite imaging business to focus on South Sudan for a spell. Clooney figured correctly that if a satellite can focus on his house in Moviestar land, they surely could focus on villages in Africa. They could, they did and for free. Hence, snaps of Sudanese planes dropping bombs on civilians complete with the explosions. My question remains why does it take a film star to get this type of proof while our political and military leaders sit idly by. Is it possible our elected and appointed leaders have this proof, but are not informing the public?

For what its worth, Mitt Romney won the primary in Puerto Rico with extreme prejudice. It is probably fair to say that Mitt did not really win, but rather Rick Santorum lost big time. He, in his inimitable puritanical fashion, preached to the residents of Puerto Rico that they should make English their official language (now it is Spanish and English). If the Puerto Ricans made this change, Rick could then support their bid for statehood. The Island has been a Territory of the US for years and the people get the best of all worlds under that status. They are protected by the US military, they carry US passports and get federal assistance on a regular basis. Yet, they are exonerated from paying personal income tax to the Federal Government. Moreover, statehood is an emotional issue with the majority of people having voted to remain a Territory of the US. Thus, Santorums dictate was not only ill-conceived, it fell on deaf ears. Additionally, his faux pas gave Romney a larger percentage of the public vote in Puerto Rico than in any other state so far. In the process, Mitt picked up Puerto Rico's full complement of 20 electoral votes.

After leaving Puerto Rico, Santorum visited Louisiana to campaign for a forthcoming primary there and to visit some old churches. During one of his public events, he confessed about himself, "One of the great blessings I've had in every political campaign is people underestimate me, people underestimate what God can do." I am not sure how this went down with the Catholic majority in Louisiana, but it does illustrate my earlier point that Rick believes he sits at the right hand of God. Danger, danger, danger.