11/8/98
Now I'm fully aware as I begin to write these words (that I
hope you will continue to read) that I'm going to make myself
about as popular as a case of dysentery, but here goes.
John Glenn is an American icon, a hero to many, no doubt about
it. But I truly believe he was given another free ride into space
for two major reasons:
1. He was being paid back for the masterful job he did in blocking Sen. Fred Thompson's investigation into the illegalities of the Clinton-Gore campaign of 1996, and
2. As far as I'm concerned, the entire mission, as well as Glenn's inclusion in it, was timed to coincide with the 1998 elections, a ploy to divert the public's attention from Clinton's disgusting behavior with a girl whom I would describe as a minor (mentally if not in terms of years) right in the White House, his wife and daughter upstairs.
Now why would I come to that conclusion? Simply because it's
the only possible explanation. John Glenn, compared to the real
heroes of America's space program, was a zilch. His only
contribution was as a body strapped into a seat and fired, like a
bullet, into orbit, just to show the Russians we could do it. He
did nothing more than ride around the planet three times.
Compare that with the men who went into orbit around the moon,
then left the mother ship, piloted the LEM down onto the moon's
surface, then exited the LEM itself and walked, even hit golf
balls, on the moon's surface. Then they got back into the LEM,
blasted themselves back into Lunar orbit, rendezvoused with the
mother ship, and returned safely to Earth-these guys really were
at risk, and if anyone deserved a reward, it was them, not John
Glenn.
Next, If you watched the Thompson hearings at all, you know there
was no way Glenn was going to allow the truth about Clinton's
grubby fund raising tactics (which incidentally broke every law
on the books) to see the light of day. He stood opposed to
everything Thompson tried to do, much the same as gun control
freak Chuckie Charles Schumer did during the Waco hearings. Glenn
is almost as partisan as George Mitchell was before he went to
work for big tobacco, but that's another story.
Now for the rest of the "John Glenn Story." I remind
you that Glenn was the leading figure among the group of Senators
that became known as the "Keating Five." How's that,
you ask?
Well, Charles Keating was a con artist who bilked taxpayers out
of a pile of money during the savings and loan debacle about a
decade ago. He managed that scam through some huge illegal and
imprudent loans that taxpayers eventually had to make good on.
Early on, when Keating's outrages first attracted the attention
of federal banking regulators, Glenn interceded on Keating's
behalf and called the regulators off the case, which allowed
Keating to make several more years worth of bad loans, increasing
taxpayer liability substantially in the process. How much loot
Glenn picked up for his assistance was never determined, but I'm
fairly certain he didn't do what he did for nothing.
Then, of course, John Glenn still owes about $3 million he
borrowed when he ran for president in 1983. Be aware that one of
the many ways (and Clinton has used them all) sleazy politicians
get around campaign finance laws is by borrowing money instead of
accepting contributions, which are limited by law, from wealthy
supporters with the understanding that they will never have to
pay the money back. Hence, Glenn still owes $3 million from a
campaign he ran 15 years ago!
And after twenty years in the Senate, I assure you that you'll be
hard pressed to find a single piece of legislation with Glenn's
name attached to it. It's hard to find a single thing that he
accomplished for the millions in salary and benefits, including a
fat pension, that he received for his services.
That old man I saw stumbling along the tarmac today after exiting
the shuttle had no business being on that mission except as a
reward for services rendered, and that's for sure.