The Soviet Union invaded in 1978 which led to Communist rule for over a decade. The brand of communism ushered in corruption and adversity for the Afghan people. The Mujahideen were the so-called Afghan forces attempting to fight back the Soviet tide. Then Pakistan came to the aid of the Afghan troops and the Islamic Rebellion went on from 1992 to 1996. Finally, youth-driven Taliban movement drove the final soviet soldier out of the country and began its own reign of terror as leaders sought to purify Afghan society and force its own fundamentalist Islamic extremist philosophy on every citizen.

Afghanistan Tribal Leaders Map - as of 2004

People at first cheered the Taliban because they chased out the Soviet invaders. But soon they discovered that the Taliban represented a different kind of leadership of fear. With the Taliban in power, Usama bin Laden was free to operate his global terror network, al-Qaida, with no opposition. Many Afghans were forced to flee, not knowing when, if ever, they would return. Then, September 11, 2001, two planes flew a fated flight into the World Trade Center in New York City. Suddenly, Afghanistan had caught the attention of the most powerful nation in the world. So what did America do? The only thing it knew how to do – it placed a giant bullseye on a country still reeling from nearly a century of civil strife.

It took America less than 3 months to drive the Taliban out of power. In its place, an interim government was formed with Hamid Karzai elected President in 2004. Karzai is a Pashtun from Kandahar province (close to the Pakistan border), who was part of the Mujahideen trying to dispel the communists from his homeland. Now, 2 million Afghan deaths later, the country is still trying to “find itself”. The sad part is that too many of its neighbors want to stir up trouble, or stand to gain with a weak Afghanistan. America is playing right into the hands of those who have their own agendas, not necessarily what is best for the Afghan people.

In the wake of the Taliban rise to power, several factions in the north and west formed a fragile alliance with one common objective: do not let the Taliban win. How much of this was accomplished with American (even Russian) support is unclear. But this group of leaders shares very little in common, and has demonstrated itself to be rather weak in tactics and resolve. Still, perhaps allowing them the opportunity to rise to the occasion would be prudent. But with larger neighbors fronting opposition forces, the road indeed is dangerous for Afghan citizens to travel, as their quest for self-determination receives interference from all sides. Each with their own agendas, China, Pakistan, Iran and Russia cannot agree on “what is best” for their fledgling little brother Afghanistan. So they attempt to tip the balance in favor of one side or another, using the power of money and influence to shape events. In the meantime, the Afghan people are tired of being other peoples’ play toy.

Instead of backing out slowly and quietly, we are driving ourselves in even deeper into affairs that ought to be none of our concern. Making deals with Taliban leaders may help soothe fragile US-Pakistan relations, but it does little to help the Afghan people. Our current policy in that country is one of pure self-interest. The divided public doesn’t want the Taliban to return to power, but there are others who seek power who are just as bad (Abdul Rashid Dostum of the north-central region, for example). The two opposing groups (one hesitates to call them political parties) are no closer to any kind of civil discourse. As long as Afghans fight Afghans and suicide bombers attack civilians, there will not be peace.

Q: How will you set a higher standard for your campaign toward civility, constructive solutions and statements of policy that make a positive impact on American discourse – without relying on fear tactics and selective truth-telling to do so?

2) Compromise, for the sake of forming reasoned solutions that a majority can support, is not inherently evil

Q: How will you reach across both sides of the aisle, recognizing there are differences in approach, but creating a legislative climate in which both sides can claim victory when real solutions are needed?

3) Global climate change that began in the early part of the 20th century, is real and there is sufficient evidence that human activity is a significant cause. The next President faces many challenges, global in nature. Access to clean water, sanitation, famine and poverty in developing nations; energy efficiency and dependency; development of safe, nonpolluting resource extraction methods; promotion of a change in national mindset toward one of conservationism, reduction of waste and consumption.

Q: Will you acknowledge that global climate change is a real, and steadily increasing problem that human activity can curtail? What priority will you place on issues affecting global health and quality of life issues?

4) One of this nation’s highest values is that of freedom of religious expression and practice. A muslim taking time to pray at work or in school, a Christian public school teacher displaying a Bible on her desk as a daily reminder of Who she serves, a Hebrew wearing a prayer shawl and kippah… these overt and public displays all deserve protection under the Constitution.

Q: What is your idea of a balanced and fair approach to free expression of religion both in public and at work? Will you reject any legislation that attempts to define morality based on a specific religious teaching?

5) Another of this nation’s highest values is freedom of speech. This extends to peaceful demonstrations, written and spoken criticism of public officials or policies, and citizen protests – harassment, slander and libel are obvious exceptions.

Q: Will you support a person’s right to burn the American flag in protest in all 50 states as guaranteed by the Constitution? Will you rigorously defend the rights of all Americans to engage in peaceful expression that does not directly harm anyone?

6) Privacy and the rights of people to not have government intrusion and/or illegal searches and seizures ought to be modernized and current laws rewritten to protect these rights in a 21st century world.

Q: Will you repeal the Patriot Act and other legislation that have seriously defrauded Americans of their rights to due process and privacy of property and information, returning the burden to law enforcement to produce a warrant, issued by a judge after demonstrating sufficient cause?

7) The current tax structure in America is grossly overly geared toward social engineering rather than revenue generation. A 3-tier individual (or household) tax rate on all earnings after standard deductions (per person) is fair and eliminates the need for hiring an accountant. The poor pay no tax because the deduction is above poverty level, and the 3 tax rates differ by 4% (15%, 19% and 23%).

Q: Will you acknowledge that tax benefits are not a reliable means of social engineering and that other, more effective means can and should be implemented? Will you fight for a flatter, one-page tax return for all working Americans?

I was born on a cold winter day in 1965 as the Chinese Year of the Dragon was coming to a close. Charles “Rip” Engle was preparing for his last season as Head Coach of Penn State. Joe Paterno’s first season as Head coach was the 1966 season. Their record that year was 5-5. But in the years that followed, out of 46 seasons only 5 resulted in a losing record. During the 5-year period from 2000 to 2004, Penn State suffered an unprecedented 4 of their 5 losing seasons under Paterno’s reign. Any other coach would have been shown the door. But not JoePa. His contract was due to expire at the end of 2008. In a landmark speech in Pittsburgh in May of 2005, he told an increasingly concerned public that he’d consider retirement if the 2005 season was a disappointment. That fall, the team finished the year 11-1. It was enough to give folks reason to let him complete his contract. Then there were other signs he would take great lengths to protect his precious team from criticism and scrutiny. Would he knowingly sweep criminal, even violent, behavior under the rug so as to protect his team from scrutiny and criticism?

College athletics programs are rampant with attitudes of “boys will be boys” that hearkens back to a time when women were allowed to get college educations so they could “meet boys” and better themselves – but let the men do all the hard work please. In public statements, Joe Paterno made light of sexual assault (by male football players) as nothing more than letting hero worship get a little out of hand (2006). See comments made by Coach Paterno when Florida State linebacker A. J. Nicholson was sent home before a bowl game under possible arrest for sexual assault: ESPN article In 2008, when his contract expired, no fewer than 46 Penn State players faced a combination of 163 criminal charges. It was enough to make ESPN take notice and, in an “Outside the Lines” feature, it was suggested that Penn State leadership had lost control of their nationally recognized team. But the collective will of Penn State alumni and others of influence merely wrote it off as “an off year” – certainly not indicative of the quality of the overall program.

What is behind this collective will, this refusal to see our “heroes” for what they really are – flawed, open to corruption, and above all, ought to be held to the same standard as everyone else? To understand this, we need to consider that in a world fresh from two very decimating world wars, people needed to believe in something positive, something lasting. Also, people were suffering from a kind of reality overload. They were ready to put blinders on. War turned to Cold War, and people were looking for an escape.

My dad was born on October 23, 1933, son of James A and Lena McElroy. It was a small town in Osceola Mills, PA. My grandfather barely had an 8th grade education. But he knew construction. Most of his working life, he worked as a foreman building many of the central Pennsylvania’s bridges. And most of these are still in good shape even today. My dad grew up in a home where you went to church every Sunday, sick or not. And when he went to high school, he played football. He also had a love of gardening, which he inherited from his own father.

After high school, he signed up with the U.S. Navy. The choice was largely based on a warning from his older brother, a sharpshooter who served his country in Europe during World War II. “Anything but the infantry,” was Dean’s warning to my dad. He would not say why. He didn’t have to. There was a tacit understanding, a recognition that man is capable of lowering himself to unspeakable depths of evil and of depravity. But one never spoke aloud what these specific acts were. My father’s generation (at least the Christian part) grew up with the belief that to envision a horror was to make oneself vulnerable to its seductive qualities.

Committing an act of “sin” in one’s heart (in the form of desire) was just as bad as physically doing it. And so, an entire generation closed its eyes to evil. They closed their eyes to the horrors around them, even when evil occurred in their own back yards. The soldiers who fought on the battlefields of Europe had no choice. It was a survival mechanism. These horrific realities were best left on the streets of France and Germany, and forgotten.

My dad then did what many young men in the area did. He applied to Penn State University and took up Dairy Science (following in the footsteps of Dean). Through hard work and determination, he graduated. It was a very different scene at Penn State than it is today. Many, like my dad, studied hard and led a clean lifestyle. It would be shameful to do otherwise. If there was a dark side, it was hidden… obscured from the light of day because it was not “cool” to be anything but squeaky clean. No one asked questions if there didn’t appear to be any problems. If it was out of sight, it did not exist. And no one complained. Not even the victims.

When folks of my dad’s era then became parents, their children grew up in a culture that was shockingly different from their own. High school included weekend parties in which all manner of experimentation took place. Binge drinking was a big part of teenage life, and other drug use, and open sex. Kids would pack into a van and think nothing of going to the local X-rated Drive-In theatre. Proprietors and vendors did not care about the mothers who would grieve to learn about their children’s activities. To the young and innocent, this was merely a blip on the screen of an otherwise normal life. But for some, doors opened to a world that was very dark and very exploitative. People who suppress normal and natural desires for decades, to the point of extreme self-prohibition, are perhaps the most susceptible to the opposite extreme in a post-sexual-revolution society.

Joe Paterno did not even have a word in his vocabulary for male rape, more specifically the rape of a child. It meant an extreme of violent behavior that had only been seen previously on the battlefields of Europe. Not in the locker room of a college football team. Now, a career has ended in disgrace and Penn State is being forced to learn a rather hard lesson in humility. Sadly the lesson will likely be too short-lived.

Ultimately, I think what bothers me most about this whole series of incidents is that it took the admittedly horrific act of rape of a child to lead to a coach’s dismissal. But athletes everywhere can get away with violence against women and receive no more than a short suspension and a slap on the wrist. Case in point was A. J. Nicholson (mentioned earlier in this article). A mere four months after the college incident, he was arrested again. Nicholson Our society has a long way to go, in my mind, toward a culture of intolerance of criminal behavior and applying the same consequences for rule-breaking to all. Athletes who break rules ought to have their scholarships revoked and a permanent end to their athletic careers should result.

In the summer of 1994, Miguel Indurain won his 4^th consecutive Tour de France. At the time, America was being introduced to a young upstart named Lance Armstrong. Just one year prior, at the age of 21, he had stunned the world winning the UCI Road World Championship in Norway. He collected the Thrift Drug Triple Crown of US Cycling. Very quickly, he was beginning to cause American sports media to consider a possible answer to the question, “Who will be the next Greg Lemonde?” Then, in 1994, he came in 2^nd place in the Clasica de San Sebastian. Meanwhile, a very young Floyd Landis had earned the honor of U.S. Junior National Champion (1993). In 1996, Lance surprised everyone by dropping out of the Tour de France on the 7^th stage.

I didn’t pay attention to any of this until October 1996. Almost exactly two years to the day my own husband (Bob) had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (a type of cancer that attacks the lymph nodes), I heard about this pro cyclist – Lance Armstrong – who was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The tumor had spread to his brain and lungs. Having watched my own husband slowly deteriorating under intensive chemotherapy treatments, I made it a point to pay very close attention to this young man’s career. I am certain that there were times when Lance had thoughts of giving up, to stop fighting both the disease and the treatments that were also taking him apart – piece by piece. But that pugnacious tenacity must have kicked in, and Lance had no choice but to fight it – and win.

The difference in age between Lance and my husband at each of their diagnoses was one year. At Lance’s diagnosis, Bob was still being seen every 6 months, having been declared “in remission” for about 18 months. He still seemed an empty shell of a person. The life (or love of) had gone, and he was bitterly trying to get on with it – in a very Mennonite fashion.

It was my secret hope that Lance Armstrong, this giant among giants, might offer a sort of inspiration for Bob to draw from. Amazingly, Lance’s treatment only went for 2 months when he was declared to be in remission. A year later, he was already training for racing with the U.S. Postal team. Armstrong then won the Tour de France in the summer of 1999, 2000, and again in 2001. No one could rival him.

Lance was also interested in recruiting the best to ride with him in the Tour de France. One of the cyclists recruited by Lance was Floyd Landis, the son of a Pennsylvania Mennonite. I could write a book about his life (if he’d let me). He rode on the U.S. Postal Service team in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 Tour de France races. All of these were won by Lance Armstrong. Floyd’s performance in the 2004 Tour was impressive enough to earn him a team leadership position with Phonak, and he officially parted company with Armstrong.

In 2005, Lance won his last Tour de France with Floyd Landis finishing 9^th. In 2006, Floyd Landis won the Tour of California and the prestigious Paris-Nice. The only rider to beat him in the mountains of Georgia was Tom Danielson. But in the summer of 2006, as the Floyd de Force took the maillot jaune during the 12^th, 13^th, 16^th and 20^th stages of the Tour de France, he failed a urine test – not once, but twice – when he insisted a backup sample be re-tested. Landis was suspended from professional cycling, and dismissed by the team. What followed was a series of unhappy events which led to appeals and arbitration, ultimately finalized in March 2008; Floyd Landis was banned from cycling also by the USADA, a 2 year judgment that retroactively began in January 2007.

The following is quoted from www.wikipedia.com in the Floyd Landis article:

“On April 14, 2009, the French newspaper L’Express reported information that had been obtained from hacking into the French national laboratory for doping detection. The information was sent to a Canadian counterpart lab from a computer registered to Arnie Baker, Landis’s ex-coach. On August 25, 2009, The New York Times reported, “No evidence has surfaced to connect Mr. Landis or Dr. Baker to the hacking, and each has denied any involvement.” However, on February 15, 2010, it became known that a French judge issued an arrest warrant for Landis on the hacking charge in late January.”

End Quote

Since then, Floyd Landis has finally admitted to doping. But it wasn’t enough to take responsibility for his own actions. He appears determined to take down others with him. There is an ongoing U.S. Justice Department investigation into the alleged doping practices of former teammates as well as Lance Armstrong, all named by Floyd Landis.

I believe that the hacking incident in late 2009 was never quite put to rest by officials in Europe, especially the UCI. The warrant was never served and evidence was never brought forth. At this point, the entire cycling world is mocked and humiliated, and Landis is acting in defiance of the direct authority of the UCI to make decisions.  And so in a latest move, the UCI has entered a lawsuit against Landis. There are two unfortunate facts that cannot be overlooked. Like many professional sporting organizations, the UCI is not completely innocent. Corruption is there, but there is little anyone can do about that. Secondly, a good man’s career has been permanently ruined – some wounds have no doubt been self-inflicted, but Floyd Landis could not cope with the truth of his indiscretion, and he has already paid the price. Perhaps he should just be left alone.

In a free society, madmen will always have the upper hand. It is nearly impossible to stop someone who is willing to strap a bomb to a baby, then proceed to blow up themselves (and the baby) for a cause. No matter how insane or misguided the cause may be. For people who are atheists, skeptics, these questions of ‘why’ are not complicated. There is no higher power who could have intervened, so acts of terror simply happen because society failed to recognize a dangerous person. Potential terrorists live and walk among us in relative anonymity. Then something snaps, the pieces fall into place that give these individuals impetus to go from the shadows into action. They succeed because they have nothing to lose. And nothing to gain.

So I write for those of us who do believe in God. In a physical, spiritual, active and personal God. How could God let this happen? How could God allow Adolf Hitler to come to power, and then embark on a reign of terror that would go on for some 20 years? How could God allow an earthquake and subsequent tsunami wipe out whole sections of Japan? There was a time when the world was perfect. Creation was perfect. But then sin entered the world. People of many faiths acknowledge this fact. Mankind has free will spiritually as well as socially. God does not stop the evil that is in the world because it is all part of the greater plan. Pain isn’t the end. Death isn’t the end.

From God’s point of view, He does not understand why we are so preoccupied with the present. Of course we are mortal beings and can only live in the moment. So when disaster strikes, we are stuck in the moment of terror. It stays with us like a bad dream that won’t go away. But in reality our souls will live forever. So momentary pain, sadness, disappointment, death, are all transitory. We are not. Once this life ends, we will go on. Eternally to exist in peace, tranquility, and perfect joy. This is incomprehensible for us now, but when we look at “the moment” through the lens of eternity, our failures seem… well, insignificant.

So instead of asking ‘why’, perhaps we could ask, ‘How can I make a difference’? The second question is much more productive in the long run. At the end of my life, I will not be looking back and asking ‘why’? or ‘why not’? I will only ask, ‘what difference did I make in people’s lives’? We will be much better for it.