Can't You Read The Sign

Nebraska ... the good life.

Indeed, it is a lovely place, free from many of the ills that are increasingly permeating our society.  It is a place that is ideal for raising a family, and a state that welcomes virtue, principle hard work. It has been said the N on the side of the University of Nebraska football helmet stand for "nice people" rather than "Nebraska".

Outside of some of the downtown areas of Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska is a very conservative state, as red a state as sea of red in beloved Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on football Saturdays with the Nebraska Cornhuskers on the field.

State Senator Ernie Chambers, a Democrat from Omaha, who tried to take down the storied 'Husker football program a few decades back, has emerged as a leader in an effort to do away with the death penalty in Nebraska.

Although Nebraska has the death penalty, it has not been used very often, and only approximately ten people are the list to be executed at this time.

Even so, led by efforts from Chambers and others and sadly including GOP members who consider themselves Conservative, legislation to end the death penalty in the Cornhusker state passed in the state legislature.

Governor Pete Ricketts, a republican from Nebraska City, vowed to veto such legislation should it land on his desk, which he promptly did.  However, with the help of a handful of "conservatives" there were enough votes to overturn the veto.  One of these individuals was Brett Lindstrom, a former 'Husker backup quarterback who considers himself a 21st century Reaganite, which is ludicrous.

Poof!  Just like that, Nebraska no longer has the death penalty.

The state has been in mourning this past week. Omaha police were serving a felony arrest warrant against an individual with a lengthy criminal record (do you ever wonder like I do how these people do not remain in jail?) when a firefight broke out, mortally wounding the suspect and a member of the Omaha Police Department.

Kerrie Orozco, a 29 year old female member of OPD, died at Creighton University Medical Center from her wounds. Kerrie Orozco, who is survived by her husband and three children, one of whom was reported to be a premature infant who remains in an Omaha hospital.  Orozco, described by Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer as a remarkable person and officer and a perfect representative of the profession, is the first OPD officer slain since 2003.

Omaha came together strong to pay tribute and offer their respects to Orozco and her family, even thwarting efforts by the idiots from the Westboro Baptist Church to cause a raucous.  In Omaha, BLUE LIVES MATTER!


With the legislative vote to repeal the death penalty, the state legislature governed against the will of the people, as Nebraskans overwhelming support it.  Individuals of the sort who have no regard for law and order and think nothing or murdering police officers are those that the death penalty suits perfectly.

Can't the legislature read the signs?

I remember a day, when Lincoln was terrorized by a crazed killer, where everybody and anybody wanted this serial murderer put to death promptly after his apprehension.  In fact, police nabbed him in Wyoming, Charles Starkweather was brought back to Lincoln and electrocuted in the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln in 1959.

The death penalty may not be a deterrent to all, but it is certainly a powerful tool of penance for those who recklessly disobey the rule of law resulting in the taking of innocent lives.  As former Nebraska governor Dave Heineman said, “It’s important for Nebraska to have a death penalty, for the most heinous of crimes. We just had the most recent situation in Omaha, the shooting in Norfolk and a variety of communities across the state.”

Right on Gov. Heinemen, particularly that recent situation in Omaha, which took the life of a top notch member of the community.  It was a sign.

Thankfully the Omaha fugitive was killed in the field, or given the mindset of the moronic legislators, he would be sentenced to a life of three squares a day, lifting weights, congenial visits and watching sports on our dime for the rest of his pitiful existence.

It is sad the members of the state legislature did not see the signs.

A sign noting Blue Lives Matter. A sign of heartbreak in Omaha and a heartfelt sign of welcome on the state borders describing Nebraska as the good life.  And the sign of a Nebraska city in terror in 1959.

Keep your eye on the signs, and Keep Calm and Kerrie On!

Range of Emotions in The Good Life

 

As Gary Sharp of Sharp & Benning in the Morning on 1620 The Zone in Omaha accurately summarized, on a day when sports, politics and life came together on a Tuesday in Nebraska, a "full range of emotions" littered the landscape from the Harper-Schramm residence halls on 14th Street in Lincoln up to Leavenworth Street in Omaha.

With voters heading to the polls from Sydney to Bellevue, a puzzling story surfaced involving a pair of University of Nebraska athletes. NU long-distance runner Lucas Keifer and starting linebacker Josh Banderas were arrested and charged with felony theft as evidence appears to indicate they stole approximately seven locked bikes from the UNL campus.

Keifer and Banderas both attended Lincoln Southeast HS.  Banderas is the son of Tom Banderas, an outstanding tight end in the mid eighties for the Big Red.

By all accounts, testified to by Zone co-host Damon Benning, Banderas would be among the last of the football roster to be suspected of such activity.  However, as one of the culprits stated, it was a bonehead move.

No kidding.  If only they had stopped for some crab legs.

Meanwhile, the proclamation of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R:KY, that every Tea Party candidate would be "crushed everywhere" went down in flames.

Ben Sasse, a candidate backed by Tea Party stalwarts such as Sarah Palin, Sen, Ted Cruz, R:TX, Club for Growth, Sen. Mike Lee, R:UT, and Glenn Beck, won going away.  Shane Osborn, no relation to famed Nebraska football coach and politician Dr. Tom Osborne, seemed like a decent candidate, but had some issues with regard to his Navy past and informed the audience of The Glenn Beck Program on radio of his involvement with Grover Norquist of Americans For Tax Reform, whose cozy relationship with Muslim interests give many cause for concern.

While we are at it, Pete Ricketts,  President and Director of Platte Institute for Economic Research, won the GOP primary in a close one over Jon Bruning, who had just lost a Senate race to now Senator Deb Fischer.  Ricketts, son of J. Joseph Ricketts, Founder of Ameritrade and owner of The Chicago Cubs, a fiscal and social conservative, won the endorsement of Sarah Palin.  Ricketts is almost assured of victory in the general, with a substantial lead in recent polling.

So, it was a big win for The Tea Party, much to the dismay of Senator McConnell, who should know better than to mess with Sarah Palin.  The Tea Party victories are just beginning. 

Some good folks, who stuck their neck out, lost races but can hold their heads high as we certainly appreciate their participation in the debate.  We listen to voices rather than attempt to quiet them.

Maybe those living The Good Life could have closed this day with some baseball at TD Ameritrade Park, where I am told hamburgers were two for one.  But, this is not a food show.

Sadly, those hopes ended with the wheel of a bus going round and round. The college baseball game with Nebraska facing Creighton scheduled for Tuesday night at TD Ameritrade Park was canceled due to travel issues.  After having their flight canceled after defeating Michigan State in East Lansing, the Big Red baseball team traveled back by bus.  However, they were unable to arrive in Omaha in time for the first pitch.

A fitting closing for a day which encompassed a wide range of emotions; mixing life, politics and sports.  Don't Tread On Me and GBR!