A decade ago I attended a meeting of FortNet in Fort Collins, Colo. News of the tragic events of a bomb blast from Oklahoma City set the mood for the room. I began to wonder what I could do. Many had already turned to the emerging internet and had catapulted it into a local news machine. Being hundreds of miles away trying to provide news did not seem to be an option. Still, I had a strong desire to let the people of Oklahoma know America and the world stood with them.

The Oklahoma City Sympathy Card was the outcome of that effort. Thousands of people from around the world, continents far and wide contributed to this beautiful work. Printed copies were compiled and sent to public places throughout Oklahoma City. To this day it remains a beautiful testament to the people of the world expressing their common bonds with those across the street or half a world away.

In an interview with the Washington Times Speaker DeLay continues the Republican assault on families. Asked whether he agrees with the White House on guest worker and immigration issues DeLay responded:

I've talked to the president about this. He thinks the country of origin is a good idea. He's open to other ideas. He's a little tough on bringing your family. But the key here is you don't want to bring your family, don't allow it - they go home anyway now illegally. They go back and forth all the time. It's not a matter of breaking up families, it's a matter of good sense. If they bring the family and they get established here, they'll never go home.

In other words it's about family values as long it is not one of those families. This kind of subterfuge just makes my blood boil. Congress has proven, very recently in the Schiavo, case that they are willing to throw their traditional family values out the window for a few political points. So if I am to understand correctly the only families that deserve to be together are those of United States Citizens and those who can come on programs that aren't guest worker programs? How does one expect that the immigrant families of guest workers are any different than students? Foreign students can have their families stay with them in the United States and they are expected to leave the country when the visa expires. What is it that would cause Mr. DeLay to expect something different of blue collar workers and their families? This sort of insidious racism and classism is thoroughly disgusting, all the more so in national leaders.

A trust-manager friend of mine described a near crisis from a few years ago. It seems, with a flourishing economy and several years of balanced budgets America might be headed towards a debt-free future. You may remember those days when the progressive Democrat was in the White House. The concern was where would trust managers find high-quality well-backed debt when the United States Government stopped issuing Treasury Bills. It would be difficult to find a replacement for Treasury Bills that offered the same sort of security and guaranteed return.

With all the attention focused on protecting the US from terrorist threats there have been many reminders that often the enemies of justice are not foreigners come to attack our way of life. Since 2001 it has become easier to forget that our country has previously been attacked by our own citizens. Today brings the sad news that a judge and two officials were killed in a courthouse in Atlanta. This follows the murder last week of a federal judge's family members.