"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not Guilty'." ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Welcome back. It's Monday, December 14, 2015, and I have this old tune on my mind as we get our day started. "Christmas Time's A-Comin, Christmas Time's A-Comin, Christmas Time's A-Comin, and I know I'm goin home." That original sentiment was sung to different tunes and dates way back in our history. A number of revisions over the years have been done including a popular re-write that was sung by Bing Crosby. Speaking of going home for Christmas reminds me of this great homeland that we have, the United States of America. Last week I heard the testimony of three different agencies giving their rendition of the facts regarding the granting of a fiancee visa to the female terrorist that helped kill and wound all those people out in California. Getting these facts are very important in evaluating our vetting procedures when foreigners seek to enter our country. Here's something that will not surprise anyone. The three different agencies' accounts had clear discrepancies in terms of their agreement on exactly how she was allowed in without further scrutiny. One said the procedures were followed to the letter which begs the question of why follow up was not done since she used a fake address on her application. Another said the formal process has been adapted over time and some of the particulars were not typically covered as a matter of practice. The last one differed some from both of their predecessors. Granted, it was three different committees asking the questions. I suppose had all of them been at the same table they would have had a better handle on making sure they all had the same story. I'm not surprised because this is how our government typically works. Having these kinds of disconnects do not make any of us feel safer and they surely don't make us feel confident in our government's ability to  prevent similar attacks going forward.

I know that's not necessarily a pleasant or positive piece of news to get our work week started but these are serious matters that do have an impact on us all. Those families directly impacted by this terrorist attack can vouch for that. Their lives became forever changed because of the actions of this radicalized husband and wife team. I told you a few days ago about how the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) discovered during an audit that some 70 plus of their own employees were on a terrorist no fly list. The President wants to ban all people on these no fly lists from purchasing weapons. There are issues with this approach since people don't know they are on a list and the various lists have been shown to be riddled with errors. That may have to be worked out but meanwhile, here's something he and his administration could do. Don't hire people to work for our government and especially those in our security apparatus if they are suspected to be a potential danger to our homeland. Duh! That sounds simple enough. Right? Maybe they could start there. What's wrong with that? Well, for starters, it makes a lot of common sense which is a concept in Washington that is at the top of the endangered species list. I may get myself on a list if I don't move on to a new topic. But at least you know some of my thoughts on the subject.

The neighbors did notice unusual stuff going on with these two Jihadists. Why didn't they report them to the authorities? They did not want to be singled out as racists. The government's 'See something Say something' doesn't work in a climate where every nuance of every detail is handled as if it is some great discrimination. There's a huge filter this administration has deployed. It covers our entire land. It is the filter of political correctness. Suspicious activities that may have prevented this most recent tragedy went unreported because of feared repercussions if those reporting were to become identified. They felt like their lives might have been ruined. In other words suspicions don't count, you had better be 100% correct, period. As they used to say back home, "That, my friend, is no way to run a railroad." It's also no way to protect our nation. Early on some of the liberal commentators wondered out loud whether this employee holiday party that became a killing field may have been a provocation to these devout Muslims. They speculated that someone may have even used that incendiary term CHRISTMAS and that may be what set all of this in motion. I kid you not. If we are not living in an episode of the Twilight Zone I will eat my hat. With that, I do not rest my case, I've just decided to take a time out. I sure am glad I am a believer in the Lord God of heaven because He and He alone can be trusted with our future. Amen. .....More later.