COMMODUS

BARAK COMMODUS OBAMA

Commodus Castigates a Centurion

By Jeannie DeAngelis

Emperor Lucius Aurelius Commodus, son of Marcus Aurielus, the "last of five good emperors," ruled Rome from AD 177 to AD 192.   History tells us that Commodus "proved to be a self-indulgent, disconnected leader."  In fact, Commodus' "accession to power ended a spell of 80 years in Roman history which had brought men to the throne by merit rather than birth."

Supposedly, Imperator Caesar Lucius Aurelius Commodus Augustus was filled with "cruelty, vanity, power and fear," which "formed into a terrifyingly dangerous mix of bloodlust, suspicion and megalomania."  

Thousands of years have passed and presently America is being ruled by Barack Obama.  Obama also maneuvers his way through the political empire like a Roman Emperor whose objective is retention of power by way of wile, stealth, and intimidation.

Defy or disparage Obama, and a suspicious president adopts dealing with the offender as his top priority and behaves like an obsessed Commodus, pursuing enemies who are armed only with blunted weapons. In fact, Obama's ancient predecessor, Commodus "is said to have feigned a plot against his own life, in order that he might have an excuse for putting many to death."

Take for example Arizona daring to enact immigration law as a means of self-preservation. Obama views the state under siege, defending itself from mutiny against the empire, and intends to drag the Grand Canyon state into the coliseum to spank the living daylights out of defiant politicians and policy.

Top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal also did the inexcusable.  In a Rolling Stone article entitled "The Runaway General," McChrystal candidly described an encounter with Commodus-in-Chief. 

McChrystal thought Obama looked "uncomfortable and intimidated" by the roomful of military brass. Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn't go much better. "It was a 10-minute photo op," says an adviser to McChrystal. "Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run his [expletive] war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed."

A highly trained general at the pinnacle of his military career certainly has experience enough to recognize "unpreparedness" when he sees it.  Yet, the observant General found that one dare not defy Obama, because harsh recompense can befall the mighty at the hand of the weak. Remember, "Whosoever ridiculed [Commodus] he cast to the wild beasts."

The President, like a power-hungry Roman emperor, seems driven by insecurity and exhibits disdain for disagreement. McChrystal's comments were defined as flippant insubordination by the "furious" Obama. Thus, America's highest-ranking legatewas summoned from the heat of battle for a face-to-face reproof in Washington, D.C.

If McChrystal thought fighting the Taliban was rough, the Afghan war is nothing compared to being dressed down by a Chicago community organizer whom McChrystal all but called a "wimp in the White House."

Although imprudent, General McChrystal and his aides spoke with unadulterated veracity about Obama's inexperience and ineptness. Obama chastising a "Spartan commander" of McChrystal's caliber can be likened to a Roman emperor throwing an unarmed centurion to the lions.

Though reported as a resignation, truth is President Barack Obama "ousted Gen. Stanley McChrystal" as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan for contemptuous remarks about administration officials, which Obama contends "undermined civilian control of the military and eroded trust on the president's war team."

Ironically, Obama's irresponsible international diplomacy and "poor judgment" has compromised the safety of our troops numerous times. For an amateur like Barack to intimate that McChrystal's personal statement compromises the safety of the military in Afghanistan encapsulates the paranoid character of a current-day Commodus.

The comparisons between Barack Obama and Commodus are unsettling. According to historical texts, Commodus was a weak, inexperienced leader who came to power with great pomp and ceremony and fancied himself the god Hercules. Yet, Commodus' reign is credited with "ending years of Roman stability and prosperity." 

Like Barack Obama, Commodus entered Rome "in a triumphal procession, receiving a hero's welcome."  To the young, "Commodus [was] an icon of new, happier days to come; his arrival sparked the highest hopes in the Roman people."

In the name of peace, Commodus relinquished military advances the Roman Empire celebrated under Marcus Aurelius.   Militarily, the Roman Emperor "surrendered all his father had achieved" and retreated from "direly contested territories."  Emperor Commodus' retreat was viewed as "an utter betrayal of everything the beloved Marcus Aurelius had stood for."

Similar retreats from hard-won military advances may be at the crux of General McChrystal's beef with Obama.

Like Obama, Commodus was "loved by the lower classes" because "generosity was indeed a part of his imperial program...the emperor obtained some of this funding by taxing members of the senatorial class." The Emperor "nearly bankrupted the imperial treasury with his expensive lifestyle," and then "replenished it by accusing senators of treason and having their property seized."

Can anybody say $13 trillion dollar deficit, "BP shakedown," or tax the rich and "redistribute the wealth?"

Commodus identified with Roman gladiators who were drawn from the dregs of society. Commodus "played gladiator" while "the empire itself faced hard times."  Two thousand years later, Obama plays golf while American experience hard times.   

According to Roman historian Herodian (1.15-17), "In his gladiatorial combats, [Commodus] defeated his opponents with ease, and he did no more than wound them, since they all submitted to him only because they knew he was the emperor, not because he was truly a gladiator."

Even today Emperor Obama nibbles clusters of grapes while terrorists sneak over the border, the economy falters, Ahmedinejad is in the process of starting a nuclear friction fire by rubbing a bomb between Iran's Israel-hating hands, and oil hemorrhages like a severed artery into the Gulf of Mexico, smothering the American coastline.

At a sensitive time in the Afghan conflict, retribution for impertinence toward the Imperious One takes precedence over both strategy and security. General Stanley McChrystal's resignation is merely additional collateral damage delivered by a disgraceful administration that makes sport of "degrad[ing] the most honorable either by insulting them directly or giving them offices far below their deserts." 

 "Commodus' reign was filled with bad decisions, causing the people of Rome to suffer." Truth be known, Obama is nothing more than a high-handed modern-day Commodus whose disproportionate focus is dealing harshly with critics while Rome burns. 

WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND IT IS...

Black woman with one white boob and one black boob

This is very bad and viewer discretion is advised.

  

...unbelievable... photo of a woman with different colored boobs..

THE MOST INTELLIGENT OF ALL TIME...

Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" for 2009

Washington, DC

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2009 list of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians." The list, in alphabetical order, includes:

1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT): This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 "Ten Most Corrupt" list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him. In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat. In 2009, Judicial Watch filed aSenate ethics complaint against Dodd for undervaluing a property he owns in Ireland on his Senate Financial Disclosure forms. Judicial Watch's complaint forced Dodd to amend the forms. However, press reports suggest the property to this day remains undervalued. Judicial Watch also alleges in the complaint that Dodd obtained a sweetheart deal for the property in exchange for his assistance in obtaining a presidential pardon (during the Clinton administration) and other favors for a long-time friend and business associate. The false financial disclosure forms were part of the cover-up. Dodd remains the head the Senate Banking Committee.
2. Senator John Ensign (R-NV): A number of scandals popped up in 2009 involving public officials who conducted illicit affairs, and then attempted to cover them up with hush payments and favors, an obvious abuse of power. The year's worst offender might just be Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign. Ensign admitted in June to an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his staff members, who then allegedly obtained special favors from the Nevada Republican in exchange for his silence. According to The New York Times: "The Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee are expected to conduct preliminary inquiries into whether Senator John Ensign violated federal law or ethics rules as part of an effort to conceal an affair with the wife of an aide…" The former staffer, Douglas Hampton, began to lobby Mr. Ensign's office immediately upon leaving his congressional job, despite the fact that he was subject to a one-year lobbying ban. Ensign seems to have ignored the law and allowed Hampton lobbying access to his office as a payment for his silence about the affair. (These are potentially criminal offenses.) It looks as if Ensign misused his public office (and taxpayer resources) to cover up his sexual shenanigans.
3. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): Judicial Watch is investigating a $12 million TARP cash injection provided to the Boston-based OneUnited Bank at the urging of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank. As reported in the January 22, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department indicated it would only provide funds to healthy banks to jump-start lending. Not only was OneUnited Bank in massive financial turmoil, but it was also "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives' use." Rep. Frank admitted he spoke to a "federal regulator," and Treasury granted the funds. (The bank continues to flounder despite Frank's intervention for federal dollars.) Moreover, Judicial Watch uncovered documents in 2009 that showed that members of Congress for years were aware that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were playing fast and loose with accounting issues, risk assessment issues and executive compensation issues, even as liberals led by Rep. Frank continued to block attempts to rein in the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). For example, during a hearing on September 10, 2003, before the House Committee on Financial Services considering a Bush administration proposal to further regulate Fannie and Freddie, Rep. Frank stated: "I want to begin by saying that I am glad to consider the legislation, but I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis. That is, in my view, the two Government Sponsored Enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis. We have recently had an accounting problem with Freddie Mac that has led to people being dismissed, as appears to be appropriate. I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the Treasury." Frank received $42,350 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 1989 and 2008. Frank also engaged in a relationship with a Fannie Mae Executive while serving on the House Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
4. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner: In 2009, Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admitted that he failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes from 2001-2004 on his lucrative salary at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization with 185 member countries that oversees the global financial system. (Did we mention Geithner now runs the IRS?) It wasn't until President Obama tapped Geithner to head the Treasury Department that he paid back most of the money, although the IRS kindly waived the hefty penalties. In March 2009, Geithner also came under fire for his handling of the AIG bonus scandal, where the company used $165 million of its bailout funds to pay out executive bonuses, resulting in a massive public backlash. Of course as head of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner helped craft the AIG deal in September 2008. However, when the AIG scandal broke, Geithner claimed he knew nothing of the bonuses until March 10, 2009. The timing is important.According to CNN: "Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders on Tuesday that he learned of AIG's impending $160 million bonus payments to members of its troubled financial-products unit on March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on Feb. 28. That is ten days before Treasury staffers say they first learned 'full details' of the bonus plan, and three days before the [Obama] Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG." Throw in another embarrassing disclosure in 2009 that Geithner employed "household help" ineligible to work in the United States, and it becomes clear why the Treasury Secretary has earned a spot on the "Ten Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington" list.
5. Attorney General Eric Holder: Tim Geithner can be sure he won't be hounded about his tax-dodging by his colleague Eric Holder, US Attorney General. Judicial Watch strongly opposed Holder because of his terrible ethics record, which includes: obstructing an FBI investigation of the theft of nuclear secrets from Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory; rejecting multiple requests for an independent counsel to investigate alleged fundraising abuses by then-Vice President Al Gore in the Clinton White House; undermining the criminal investigation of President Clinton by Kenneth Starr in the midst of the Lewinsky investigation; and planning the violent raid to seize then-six-year-old Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint in order to return him to Castro's Cuba. Moreover, there is his soft record on terrorism. Holder bypassed Justice Department procedures to push through Bill Clinton's scandalous presidential pardons and commutations, including for 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican terrorist group that orchestrated approximately 120 bombings in the United States, killing at least six people and permanently maiming dozens of others, including law enforcement officers. His record in the current administration is no better. As he did during the Clinton administration, Holder continues to ignore serious incidents of corruption that could impact his political bosses at the White House. For example, Holder has refused to investigate charges that the Obama political machine traded VIP access to the White House in exchange for campaign contributions – a scheme eerily similar to one hatched by Holder's former boss, Bill Clinton in the 1990s. The Holder Justice Department also came under fire for dropping a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party. On Election Day 2008, Black Panthers dressed in paramilitary garb threatened voters as they approached polling stations. Holder has also failed to initiate a comprehensive Justice investigation of the notorious organization ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which is closely tied to President Obama. There were allegedly more than 400,000 fraudulent ACORN voter registrations in the 2008 campaign. And then there were the journalist videos catching ACORN Housing workers advising undercover reporters on how to evade tax, immigration, and child prostitution laws. Holder's controversial decisions on new rights for terrorists and his attacks on previous efforts to combat terrorism remind many of the fact that his former law firm has provided and continues to provide pro bono representation to terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Holder's politicization of the Justice Department makes one long for the days of Alberto Gonzales.
6. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)/ Senator Roland Burris (D-IL): One of the most serious scandals of 2009 involved a scheme by former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to sell President Obama's then-vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. Two men caught smack dab in the middle of the scandal: Senator Roland Burris, who ultimately got the job, and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, emissaries for Jesse Jackson Jr., named "Senate Candidate A" in the Blagojevich indictment, reportedly offered $1.5 million to Blagojevich during a fundraiser if he named Jackson Jr. to Obama's seat. Three days later federal authorities arrested Blagojevich. Burris, for his part, apparently lied about his contacts with Blagojevich, who was arrested in December 2008 for trying to sell Obama's Senate seat. According to Reuters: "Roland Burris came under fresh scrutiny…after disclosing he tried to raise money for the disgraced former Illinois governor who named him to the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama…In the latest of those admissions, Burris said he looked into mounting a fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich -- later charged with trying to sell Obama's Senate seat -- at the same time he was expressing interest to the then-governor's aides about his desire to be appointed." Burris changed his story five times regarding his contacts with Blagojevich prior to the Illinois governor appointing him to the U.S. Senate. Three of those changing explanations came under oath.
7. President Barack Obama: During his presidential campaign, President Obama promised to run an ethical and transparent administration. However, in his first year in office, the President has delivered corruption and secrecy, bringing Chicago-style political corruption to the White House. Consider just a few Obama administration "lowlights" from year one: Even before President Obama was sworn into office, he was interviewed by the FBI for a criminal investigation of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's scheme to sell the President's former Senate seat to the highest bidder. (Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and slumlord Valerie Jarrett, both from Chicago, are also tangled up in the Blagojevich scandal.) Moreover, the Obama administration made the startling claim that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House. The Obama White House believes it can violate the privacy rights of American citizens without any legal consequences or accountability. President Obama boldly proclaimed that "transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," but his administration is addicted to secrecy, stonewalling far too many of Judicial Watch's Freedom of Information Act requestsand is refusing to make public White House visitor logs as federal law requires. The Obama administration turned the National Endowment of the Arts (as well as the agency that runs the AmeriCorps program) into propaganda machines, using tax dollars to persuade "artists" to promote the Obama agenda. According to documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the idea emerged as a direct result of the Obama campaign and enjoyed White House approval and participation. President Obama has installed a record number of "czars" in positions of power. Too many of these individuals are leftist radicals who answer to no one but the president. And too many of the czars are not subject to Senate confirmation (which raises serious constitutional questions). Under the President's bailout schemes, the federal government continues to appropriate or control — through fiat and threats — large sectors of the private economy, prompting conservative columnist George Will to write: "The administration's central activity — the political allocation of wealth and opportunity — is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption." Government-run healthcare and car companies, White House coercion, uninvestigated ACORN corruption, debasing his office to help Chicago cronies, attacks on conservative media and the private sector, unprecedented and dangerous new rights for terrorists, perks for campaign donors — this is Obama's "ethics" record — and we haven't even gotten through the first year of his presidency.
8. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): At the heart of the corruption problem in Washington is a sense of entitlement. Politicians believe laws and rules (even the U.S. Constitution) apply to the rest of us but not to them. Case in point: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her excessive and boorish demands for military travel. Judicial Watch obtained documents from the Pentagon in 2009 that suggest Pelosi has been treating the Air Force like her own personal airline. These documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, include internal Pentagon email correspondence detailing attempts by Pentagon staff to accommodate Pelosi's numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft as well as the speaker's 11th hour cancellations and changes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also came under fire in April 2009, when she claimed she was never briefed about the CIA's use of the waterboarding technique during terrorism investigations. The CIA produced a report documenting a briefing with Pelosi on September 4, 2002, that suggests otherwise. Judicial Watch also obtained documents, including aCIA Inspector General report, which further confirmed that Congress was fully briefed on the enhanced interrogation techniques. Aside from her own personal transgressions, Nancy Pelosi has ignored serious incidents of corruption within her own party, including many of the individuals on this list. (See Rangel, Murtha, Jesse Jackson, Jr., etc.)
9. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and the rest of the PMA Seven: Rep. John Murtha made headlines in 2009 for all the wrong reasons. The Pennsylvania congressman is under federal investigation for his corrupt relationship with the now-defunct defense lobbyist PMA Group. PMA, founded by a former Murtha associate, has been the congressman's largest campaign contributor. Since 2002, Murtha has raised $1.7 million from PMA and its clients. And what did PMA and its clients receive from Murtha in return for their generosity? Earmarks -- tens of millions of dollars in earmarks. In fact, even with all of the attention surrounding his alleged influence peddling, Murtha kept at it. Following an FBI raid of PMA's offices earlier in 2009, Murtha continued to seek congressional earmarks for PMA clients, while also hitting them up for campaign contributions. According to The Hill, in April, "Murtha reported receiving contributions from three former PMA clients for whom he requested earmarks in the pending appropriations bills." When it comes to the PMA scandal, Murtha is not alone. As many as six other Members of Congress are currently under scrutiny according to The Washington Post. They include: Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN.), James P. Moran Jr. (D-VA), Norm Dicks (D-WA.), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), C.W. Bill Young (R-FL.) and Todd Tiahrt (R-KS.). Of course rather than investigate this serious scandal, according to Roll Call House Democrats circled the wagons, "cobbling together a defense to offer political cover to their rank and file." The Washington Post also reported in 2009 that Murtha's nephew received $4 million in Defense Departmentno-bid contracts: "Newly obtained documents…show Robert Murtha mentioning his influential family connection as leverage in his business dealings and holding unusual power with the military."
10. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY): Rangel, the man in charge of writing tax policy for the entire country, has yet to adequately explain how he could possibly "forget" to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income he earned from his off-shore rental property. He also faces allegations that he improperly used his influence to maintain ownership of highly coveted rent-controlled apartments in Harlem, and misused his congressional office to fundraise for his private Rangel Center by preserving a tax loophole for an oil drilling company in exchange for funding. On top of all that, Rangel recently amended his financial disclosure reports, which doubled his reported wealth. (He somehow "forgot" about $1 million in assets.) And what did he do when the House Ethics Committee started looking into all of this? He apparently resorted to making "campaign contributions" to dig his way out of trouble. According toWCBS TV, a New York CBS affiliate: "The reigning member of Congress' top tax committee is apparently 'wrangling' other politicos to get him out of his own financial and tax troubles...Since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him." Charlie Rangel should not be allowed to remain in Congress, let alone serve as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and he knows it. That's why he felt the need to disburse campaign contributions to Ethics Committee members and other congressional colleagues.

"A lot of businesses were hit hard during this downturn, but they're starting to hire again. Workers who were laid off, they're starting to get their jobs back. Companies that were almost forced to close their doors are making plans to expand and invest in new equipment. And this progress is reflected in the monthly jobs reports that we get each month. We received one today. In May, the economy added 431,000 jobs. (Applause.)" President Obama, June 4, 2010.

The Real Danger

Some people have the vocabulary to sum up things in a way you can understand them.   This quote came from the   Czech Republic Prager Zeitung newspaper.  Someone over there has it figured out.  We have a lot of work to do.
                                                    
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency.  It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president." "The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America .  Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool.  It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president." 

GOODBYE COACH WOODEN-1910-2010

I have always wanted to meet this man that inspired me as I grew up in Los Angeles in the late 60s and early 70s...not just because he won titles...because he won them the right way.  I guess I'll meet him when I cross the river.

Let's NOT Pay Our Respects For These Guys And Go To Chicago To Party

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Veil of secrecy shrouding dead CIA officer lifted

By ADAM GOLDMAN

 

 

 

View Larger Photo & More >>

 

A last photo shows Darren James LaBonte on an all-terrain vehicle in Khost, Afghanistan, days before his death. He's smiling. Athlete, soldier, husband, father and determined CIA officer.   LaBonte's family had promised him they wouldn't talk about his work. They kept that pledge as they mourned in private after he died along with six other CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer in the suicide bombing at a U.S. base in Afghanistan in late December.   Even now, months after his burial, they won't detail the dangerous work he did for the agency. "We made that promise to him," said LaBonte's parents, David and Camille.   But his family did decide over Memorial Day to acknowledge that he was among the bombing victims _ and they decided to tell the world a bit about the man behind the name.   All but two of the CIA employees killed in the blast had previously been identified publicly. The seventh victim, the agency's chief of base, a 45-year-old mother of three and an al-Qaida expert, remains anonymous. Indeed, anonymity is part of the trade-off for a career in intelligence. CIA families have grieved in silence for decades.   "It's hard to understand," said Ted Gup, author of "The Book of Honor: The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives." "It's hard for our entire culture to grasp the nature of this sacrifice. We live in a culture of celebrity where what is not recognized doesn't exist." Spies, he added, "come out of a culture where what is recognized ceases to exist. The light is lethal."   The CIA won't discuss LaBonte, but his parents and wife agreed to shed some light about his death. And over this past Memorial Day weekend, a historic B-17 plane dropped flowers over the Statue of Liberty in a tribute to the seven slain Americans.   LaBonte was 35 years old when he died, ending a career that included service in the military and a series of law enforcement jobs.   "He was a pretty talented guy," said his father, who described the son as "intelligent, complex and an incredible athlete."   LaBonte grew up in Connecticut. He played baseball and football at Brookfield High School. He turned down a shot at professional baseball with the Cleveland Indians when he graduated from high school in 1992 and opted for the Army, said his father, a former Navy SEAL.   LaBonte earned the celebrated black and yellow Ranger patch and was assigned to First Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, one of the toughest units.   In 1999, LaBonte met his wife _ Racheal _ on a blind date to a Ranger ball in Savannah, Ga., where he was stationed. The following year, they married and he left the Army. But after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, LaBonte wanted to get back into the fight.   "He was hellbent on making this 9/11 thing right," his father said. "That really affected him badly."   LaBonte decided not to re-enlist in the Army, choosing to pursue an education and a career in law enforcement. He graduated from Columbia College of Missouri and received a master's degree in May 2006 from Boston University, where he studied criminal justice.   Along the way, he had worked as a police officer in Libertyville, Ill., and as a U.S. marshal before joining the FBI. The family said LaBonte won a leadership and shooting award at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., then landed in the FBI's New York field office.   The CIA recruited him, and he resigned from the FBI in late 2006, moving with his wife to the Washington, D.C., area. His father had reservations about the CIA, but his son had always steered his own course.   He was a "man determined to be a part of the solution to the unrest in our world," his mother said.   His parents declined to discuss what he did for the agency. But the elder LaBonte said his son had served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Amman, Jordan, his last posting before he died in Afghanistan. Father and son talked about the perils of his job.   "I don't think he feared death," David LaBonte said. "He faced it." "He was a Spartan," his wife said. "He had to do these things. I respected him and honored him."   Darren LaBonte's parents, who live Arnold, Md., said they had planned a Christmas trip to Italy about the time of the Khost bombing. Their son planned to meet them, along with his wife and daughter Raina, who turns 3 in November. LaBonte's younger brother also was coming. On Dec. 17, LaBonte left for Afghanistan, leaving his wife and daughter in Amman.   "He was anxious but excited about the mission," Racheal LaBonte said. His trip to Italy was suddenly delayed. The CIA believed it was on the verge of a major breakthrough in the hunt to kill Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaida's No. 2. The Jordanians had a man on the inside who said he had information about the terrorist.   On the night of Dec. 30, while staying in a villa in Tuscany _ the day before LaBonte was supposed to arrive in Italy _ his wife took a phone call: Her husband was dead.   "You hear it, but you don't comprehend it," she said. "They are words you never want to hear in your entire life."   In a deadly double-cross, five CIA officers, two security contractors and a Jordanian intelligence officer were killed at the remote base in Khost. Six other CIA officers were wounded.   David LaBonte said the U.S. government "took us by the hand" and helped the grieving family make its way back to the U.S. He praised CIA Director Leon Panetta, who made sure his son was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The funeral was Feb. 1. The chief of base was also laid to rest at Arlington.   "There was some question about Darren being buried in Arlington," the father said. "Within days, Panetta took care of this, which was a big thing for us. I thought he would be standoffish. He has been magnificent with our family. He has been caring and sincere, not an aloof politician." Camille LaBonte said the CIA has not forgotten her son or what he did for the country.   "They have not left us," she said. "They can't bring our people back, but they do try to honor them in many different ways."   In March, the family attended a memorial service in Amman, where Robert Beecroft, the U.S. ambassador, praised the fallen CIA officer.   "Most of the people in the CIA are just like the rest of us but they have dangerous jobs," said Racheal LaBonte. "He loved his family. He loved his job. It's not about killing people. It's about saving people."

CLEARLY TRANSPARENT

The fact is that government produces nothing.  It merely extracts wealth from those who produce it and redirects that wealth into areas where those who produce it would not place it if given a choice in the matter. - Bill Buckler, The Privateer, May 30, 2010