When Squirt Guns Are Outlawed ...

You know our society's threshold for panic has sunk to new low levels when a local police department sends out a warning to citizens about teenagers playing with squirt guns.

This sort of warning was, in fact, distributed by Montgomery Township (New Jersey) police in an email dated April 23. The web version of the email says, in part (telephone number redacted to reduce the number of justifiable crank calls):

A portion of Montgomery High School seniors are participating in a Township wide game known as "senior assassin." The game is not supported nor condoned by the School District. The game involves teams of students seeking out each other and squirting them with water guns. The activity causes both residents and law enforcement alarm due to the devices and methods used by the participants. Citizens may notice an increase in both vehicular and pedestrian traffic involving groups of high school youths. Motorists are asked to use extra caution especially during evening and early morning hours. Parents of participating students are asked to caution their children on the dangers of possessing realistic looking weapons, careless driving, and overall risky behavior. Residents should not attribute suspicious activity to the game and contact Montgomery Police at (908)xxx-xxxx or 9-1-1 in case of an emergency.

The game in question -- here called "senior assassin" but which goes by other names such as "Gotcha, Assassins, KAOS (Killing as organized sport), Juggernaut, Battle Royal, Paranoia, Killer, Elimination, or Circle of Death" -- is not a new phenomenon. I remember playing a version of it in my college dorm in 1980 (I was eliminated in the first round) and the game is a principal plot element in the 1985 Cold War comedy thriller, Gotcha!, starring Anthony Edwards when he still had a full head of hair.

It has been years since commercially-available squirt guns have borne any resemblance to actual firearms, so the police department's stated caution about "possessing realistic looking weapons" is a bit disingenuous.

Maybe New Jerseyans have a different temperament than Virginians, but what really disturbs me is how this innocent game "causes both residents and law enforcement alarm."

As I recall from The Sopranos, therapists are available in New Jersey. Anyone who is "alarmed" by squirt gun fights among teenagers really needs to be under the care of a licensed psychologist.

The last sentence of the missive offers me some comfort, however, and a suspicion that even the communications staff at police HQ in Belle Mead, New Jersey, are rolling their eyes in disbelief at what they are compelled to do. If you read it grammatically, the last sentence says: "Residents should not ... contact Montgomery Police..."

(Cross-posted from Bearing Drift.)

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2013 Ronald Reagan Dinner Has Exciting Silent Auction Items Ready for Bid

Only a few days remain until the 2013 Ronald Reagan Dinner sponsored by the Charlottesville Republican Committee. The dinner will take place the evening of Sunday, April 7, at the Omni Hotel in downtown Charlottesville. (Last-minute tickets are still available for purchase at www.CharlottesvilleGOP.com -- just follow the links to the secure payment page.)

In addition to speeches by former U.S. Secretary of Transportation James Burnley and former White House advisor Karl Rove, this year's dinner offers a range of interesting and intriguing personalized items donated by conservative celebrities and Republican VIPs.

For instance, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback is offering a Kansas state flag, flown over the capitol building in Topeka, with the winning bidder choosing the date for the flag to fly.

Similarly, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval has contributed a commemorative state coin and Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has sent a coffee-table book about his state, with his autograph attached, called Iowa: Simply Beautiful II.

Former President George H.W. Bush has sent us a limited-edition lithograph portraying his presidential library in Texas, signed and numbered by the artist and autographed by the President himself.

Here are some of the other items that will be available for bidding during the cocktail reception at the Omni, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Be sure to bring a checkbook to pay for your purchase, or you'll risk losing it to the second-place bidder! (All of these items have been autographed or otherwise personalized by the donor.)

From former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr

The Meaning of Is: The Squandered Impeachment and Wasted Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton

From former UN Ambassador John Bolton

Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations an Abroad

From former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and coauthor Clint Bolick

Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution

From House Majority Leader Eric Cantor

The Congressional Club Cookbook (inscribed)

From Lynne V. Cheney

Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family

From former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

Leadership

From Fox News host Sean Hannity

Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama’s Radical Agenda, plus an autographed photo

From 1994 U.S. Senate candidate Oliver North

Heroes Proved

From Karl Rove

Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight

From House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan

An autographed 2012 Christmas card

From CSI:NY actor Gary Sinise

Signed photo and autographed DVD, High Flight: A Voyage to the Edge of Infinity

From Virginia Congressman Rob Wittman

The Congressional Club Cookbook (inscribed)

In addition to featured speakers Burnley and Rove, the dinner program will include remarks by Albemarle County Board of Supervisors member Ken Boyd and Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors Chairman Shaun Kenney, as well as a special presentation by the GOP candidates for Attorney General of Virginia, Delegate Rob Bell and state Senator Mark Obenshain.

There may be additional surprises in store, but people will have to wait until April 7 to find out what they are.

(Cross-posted from the Charlottesville Republicans Blog.)

It's Human Achievement Hour!

Turn on the lights. Vacuum your carpets. Wash and dry your clothes in a washer and dryer, and clean your kitchen utensils in a dishwasher.

Celebrate the ingenuity that brought you the conveniences of modern life. It's Human Achievement Hour!

As explained by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which launched Human Achievement Hour as an alternative to the pessimistic and -- literally -- dark Earth Hour,

Human Achievement Hour (HAH) is a celebration of individual freedom and appreciation of the achievements and innovations that people have used to improve their lives throughout history. To celebrate Human Achievement Hour, participants need only to spend the hour from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm on March 23 enjoying the benefits of capitalism and human innovation: Gather with friends in the warmth of a heated home, watch television, take a hot shower, drink a beer, call a loved one on the phone, or listen to music.

Take time this evening to go on Twitter and Facebook to offer words of gratitude to Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Isaac Singer, Christopher Latham Sholes, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs.

Human achievement is something to appreciate, not condemn.

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March 23, 1983 - Ronald Reagan Launches the Strategic Defense Initiative

It is hard to believe it has been three decades since President Ronald Reagan introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative, which quickly earned the dismissive sobriquet "Star Wars" (after the George Lucas films of the same name).

Reagan's introduction was modest and unexpected, coming at the end of a televised address to the nation on the general theme of national security and the defense budget then being considered by Congress.

The Strategic Defense Initiative (or SDI) was not without precedent, however. Winston Churchill had called for defensive weapons systems as early as the 1930s, in the run-up to World War II. One result of the strategic defense debate and subsequent research in that era was radar, which probably saved Britain from total destruction by the Luftwaffe.

There had also been talk about strategic defense from the beginning of the Atomic Age, with pro- and anti- sides alternating pre-eminence from time to time.

In the 1960s, defensive strategic systems were debated and set aside as destabilizing to the doctrine of Mutuall Assured Destruction (MAD). As I wrote in the 1986 book, Promise or Peril: The Strategic Defense Initiative (coedited with Zbigniew Brzezinski, Marin Strmecki, and Peter Wehner) U.S. Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara

also rejected a U.S. strategic defense system because it would be easily countered by Moscow. The Soviet Union would be forced to respond with an offensive buildup, which would mean that "the risk of a Soviet nuclear attack would not be further decreased" and, if deterrence failed, "the damage to the United States from a Soviet nuclear attack would not be reduced in any meaningful sense."

To those following strategic issues in the early 1980s, the substance of Reagan's "Star Wars speech" was not so surprising, even if the timing of it was. Reagan himself was urged by Edward Teller, known as the "father of the hydrogen bomb," to promote and initiate defensive systems as part of the overall U.S. national security strategy. Retired General Daniel O. Graham had been pushing a concept he called "High Frontier," which used off-the-shelf, kinetic technology to knock incoming missiles out of the sky.

In summarizing and introducing an excerpt from Reagan's SDI speech in Promise or Peril, I wrote:

With President Reagan's address to the nation on March 23, 1983, the Strategic Defense Initiative became the focus of the U.S. debate over strategic policy. Although much of the speech was devoted to resisting uts in his defense budget, in his conclusion the President offered an alternative to traditional U.S. nuclear strategy. "Wouldn't it be better to save lives than to avenge them?" he asked. Although "deterrence of aggression through the promise of retaliation" had worked well, Reagan rejected the idea of indefinitely basing U.S. policy on the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction.

In calling for this shift, he advocated, not simply a limited defense of U.S. strategic forces, but a total population defense so that "free people could live secure in the knowledge that ... we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies." The President challenged the scientific community, "those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace, to give the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete."

The rhetoric of Reagan's speech echoes that of Winston Churchill ... during the British air defense debate of the 1930s.

Thirty years on, for both his domestic and foreign policies, Ronald Reagan is remembered by local Republican parties through annual celebratory dinners. The next one coming up in Virginia is in Charlottesville on April 7, just two weeks after the anniversary of what is known not just derisively but also affectionately as the "Star Wars speech."

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Karl Rove and James Burnley Will Speak in Charlottesville

*** Annual Ronald Reagan Dinner Returns to Charlottesville

*** Bush White House Advisor Karl Rove and Reagan Cabinet Secretary James Burnley Will Headline Event 

(CHARLOTTESVILLE, February 21, 2013) --- Fox News contributor Karl Rove and former U.S Secretary of Transportation James H. Burnley IV will be the featured speakers at the 2013 Ronald Reagan Dinner sponsored by the Charlottesville Republican Committee.

The Reagan Dinner will be held on Sunday, April 7, at the Omni Hotel in downtown Charlottesville.

 “A longtime Charlottesville tradition, the Reagan Dinner has been 'on hiatus' since 2003,” said Charlottesville Republican Committee chairman Charles “Buddy” Weber. “That year's dinner speaker was former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, and it took place on the same night that the Iraq War began. With that kind of 'shock and awe,' we needed a break, but now we're back.”

Karl Rove, who served as Deputy White House Chief of Staff and as a Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush, is well-known as columnist for the Wall Street Journal and as a political strategist.

“I am looking forward to speaking in Charlottesville, a region that offers opportunities for growth and revitalization for the local Republican Party. It will be my pleasure to meet party activists and offer my thoughts on the future of the conservative movement," Mr. Rove said.

James H. Burnley IV

James Burnley was President Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Transportation, serving from 1987 through 1989. He is currently an attorney with the Washington law firm, Venable LLP, sits on the board of FreedomWorks, and is a past chairman of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.

 “It will be a great pleasure to return to Charlottesville” said Burnley. “My family has deep roots in the community – Burnley-Moran School is named for my great-great aunt, and I spent summers in the area as a child when my great-uncle owned the Hardware Store on the downtown mall. I look forward to reminiscing about my years in President Reagan's cabinet and discussing the transportation issues we face in the 21st century.”

Weber added: “The Ronald Reagan Dinner is our local committee's primary fundraising event of the year. It not only provides an opportunity for Charlottesville Republicans to come together for an evening of fun and conviviality, it raises the seed money for our candidates for City Council, the General Assembly, and other local offices. We welcome the participation of Karl Rove and James Burnley in this year's festivities.”

 The 2013 Ronald Reagan Dinner will include a cocktail reception, a VIP reception for major sponsors, and a silent auction featuring items donated by Republican leaders and celebrities from across the United States. So far House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, Fox News host Sean Hannity, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, and former Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton have contributed autographed items for the silent auction.

Tickets for the Charlottesville Republican Party's 2013 Ronald Reagan Dinner are $75 each, with discounts for packages of two and tables of eight. Seating is limited but requests for invitations may be sent by email to rsvp.2013ReaganDinner@gmail.com or by postal mail to P.O. Box 6936, Charlottesville, VA 22906.

 Contributions to the Charlottesville Republican Party are not tax-deductible.

(Crossposted from the Charlottesville Republicans Blog.)

Panel Discussions at the 2012 Virginia Film Festival

Carl Bernstein

Although a presidential election has intervened, absorbing much of our attention, since the last popcorn was popped and the last screening went dark, I think it's worthwhile to visit the 2012 Virginia Film Festival and look at a few of the stimulating panel discussions that followed some of the features.

The headliners on Friday night were former Virginia Governor Gerald Baliles, who was one of the founders of the Virginia Film Festival, along with authors Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. Baliles led a conversation with Woodward and Bernstein about the 1976 movie based on their book, All the President's Men, which chronicled their investigation of the Watergate break-in and cover-up as young reporters with the Washington Post.

Bob Woodward

All the President's Men won four Academy Awards (supporting actor, sound, art direction-set decoration, and adapted screenplay) and was nominated for four others, including Best Picture. (By odd coincidence for me, the screenplay was by William Goldman, who also wrote The Lion in Winter, a play I saw last night at the American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton last night.)

Woodward and Bernstein discussed many aspects of their investigative work, the making of the movie, and the legacy of the Watergate scandal. One nugget that I excerpted from the longer discussion focused on President Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon just one month after Nixon resigned the presidency.

Woodward explained that he interviewed Ford about the pardon some 25 years after it occurred, and that Ford said he did it to spare the country of further pain over Watergate. Although he and Bernstein had been appalled by the pardon at the time it happened, they now agree that Ford "did the right thing."

Here's the clip:

The longer, more wide-ranging, conversation is also worth a look. Considering that Watergate happened 40 years ago, it is fascinating to hear the stories directly from some of the principal players in the investigation that brought down a president and proved that our Constitution can endure even the worst crisis that threatens its integrity.

Here's the complete panel discussion with Baliles, Bernstein, and Woodward:

For the record, here is Governor Baliles' introduction of the film and the participants:

Another political movie was also featured at this month's film festival. A screening of John Frankenheimer's 1962 psycho-political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate (starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, and a cast of distinguished character actors of the 1950s and 1960s), was followed by a discussion among the hosts of the public radio program, BackStory with the American History Guys.

The American History Guys are two University of Virginia historians, Brian Balogh (20th century history) and Peter Onuf (18th century), and the president of the University of Richmond, Ed Ayers (19th century).

The screening and panelists were introduced by Jody Kielbasa, director of the Virginia Film Festival, who notes that The Manchurian Candidate has been added to the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.

Here's the full discussion, including questions and comments from the audience:

In a non-political category, on Saturday afternoon, actor and Oscar-winning songwriter Keith Carradine discussed his role in Ridley Scott's 1978 film, The Duellists (costarring Harvey Keitel). The conversation was moderated by New York University film scholar Harry Chotiner and included questions from the audience about Carradine's career and the art/craft of acting.

Here's the post-screening discussion, which lasts just over one-half hour:

Finally, a new movie, based on a popular young adult (YA) novel, from a first-time director was one of the closing-night screenings in a newly refurbished Newcomb Hall Theatre on the grounds of the University of Virginia.

Director Matthew Lillard (better known as an actor for such films as Scream and Scooby-Doo) discussed his new film, Fat Kid Rules the World, along with actor Billy Campbell, who has a major role in it. The conversation was moderated by Sandy Hausman of WVTF-FM.

Fat Kid Rules the World is based on the novel of the same name by K.L. Going and stars Jacob Wysocki, Matt O'Leary, and Dylan Arnold, as well as Campbell (who attended Western Albemarle High School).

The conversation took some interesting turns. As Lisa Provence reported in The Hook, for instance,

Billy Campbell's shocking confession about what really went on at Fork Union Military Academy: The star of The Killing says his six years at FUMA provided the military experience for playing a former-Marine dad in Fat Kid. "What were you doing there?" asks Hausman. "A lot of masturbating," replies Campbell.

Here's the whole rollicking thing:

For more of my coverage of this year's Virginia Film Festival, see this Examiner.com article about Woodward & Bernstein and this pre-festival interview with Jody Kielbasa.

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