Edward I. Koch
Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2003

We are frail in body and subject to so many forces beyond our control. Believing that we shall have a place in heaven and meet once again our family and friends who have passed over makes life bearable in the greatest of tragedies.

All that has transpired on earth since the beginning of time cannot be the result of inexplicable accident. It had to be and continues to be part of the Creator’s grand design. Those who die while engaged in heroic acts - and flying into infinite space is heroic - will surely have a place at the Creator’s side.

Sen. Corzine Hurts Dems on National Security

Last weekend, the senior senator from New Jersey, Jon Corzine, stated in a television interview that even if the Iraqis use poison gas against our soldiers, the U.S. should never respond with nuclear weapons.

Many observers believe Saddam Hussein did not use weapons of mass destruction in the 1991 Persian Gulf War because he was warned that in retaliation we would devastate Iraq with a nuclear response. Corzine’s statement gives Iraq encouragement to use those weapons.

The media should poll senators and members of Congress on where they stand on this issue. What Corzine has done is to re-enforce the public’s conclusion reflected in polls that Democrats are not to be trusted on matters relating to national defense and security.

Mandela's Racist Rant Against U.S.

Nelson Mandela performed superbly as president of the Republic of South Africa. Last week, he disgraced himself with an outrageous and racially explosive attack on President Bush and the U.S.

Mandela ranted, “Is this [expected military action against Iraq] because the secretary general of the United Nations is now a black man? They never did that when secretary generals were white.”

According to the New York Times, “he also criticized the United States for complaining about Iraq’s human rights record. Asserting that the American conscience was far from clean, Mr. Mandela pointed to the atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. ‘Because they decided to kill innocent people in Japan, who are still suffering from that, who are they now to pretend that they are the policeman of the world?’ he asked.”

Mandela’s claim that racism toward Secretary General Kofi Annan has played a role in defining U.S. policy toward Iraq is absurd. Kurt Waldheim, white and European, was ultimately precluded from serving another term as U.N. secretary general as a result of U.S. opposition. Because of his Nazi past, he was placed on a State Department exclusion list after leaving the U.N. so he could not re-enter the U.S. He was denounced by the U.S. and many European countries.

Mandela’s attack on President Harry Truman’s decision to use the nuclear bomb on Japan to end WWII is inexcusable. Some estimate the lives of 500,000 American soldiers scheduled to invade the Japanese homeland in November 1945 may have been saved by Japan’s unconditional surrender following the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. The lives of millions of Japanese were probably also saved by the surrender.

Many are afraid to criticize Mandela’s outrageous comments for fear of incurring the displeasure of this international icon and his many supporters. Because someone has made important contributions to human affairs doesn’t provide immunity from foolish statements. Mandela should apologize immediately, and newspaper editorials here and abroad should take him to task for his behavior.

New York's Corrupt Legislature

The Albany Legislature is an abattoir, a slaughterhouse. Total political partisanship and petty corruption rule the Assembly and Senate.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is primarily responsible for the elimination of the commuter tax, depriving New York City of $500 million annually.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno is primarily responsible for inequitable education and other revenue distribution formulas depriving the city of billions annually.

Our politicians in Albany have largely left the selection of judges in the hands of county leaders who use their power to corrupt the judicial system.

It’s time to convene a Moreland Act Commission to investigate government corruption at all levels. An investigation by a Moreland-type commission under Judge Samuel Seabury was the cause of the ultimate election of Fiorello LaGuardia, who swept the crooks out of office.

We need to create a political environment that will produce public officials like LaGuardia, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Herbert H. Lehman, Nelson Rockefeller and Hugh Carey, who were committed to the public welfare rather than merely to their own petty interests or the interests of their parties.

Gov. George Pataki, in his last term, can give the people of New York a great gift: provide hope for their future by appointing a Moreland Act Commission to investigate and clean out the Augean Stables.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Saddam Hussein/Iraq
Shuttle Disaster
Editor's note:
Get your Web site listed on NewsMax.com - reach millions for pennies!