Topic category: Government/Politics
Give Credit When Credit Is Due...and Share It When That's the Right Thing to Do
When John F. Kennedy (JFK) was inaugurated, he set the goal of putting an American on the moon by the end of the decade.
It happened, but JFK's presidency ended in 1963.
His vice president, Lyndon B, Johnson (LBJ), continued the quest.
Johnson's presidency ended in 1969.
His successor, Richard M. Nixon (RMN), finished the quest.
JFK, LBJ and RMN all deserve credit for the accomplishment.
Osama bin Laden (OBL) is dead.
President George W. Bush (GWB) set the goal of tracking down OBL, dead of alive.
GWB's presidency ended in 2009.
President Barack Hussein Obama (BHO) succeeded GWB and continued to pursue the goal.
On May 1, 2010, the goal was fulfilled.
Credit for completing the mission is due to BHO, just as credit for completing the moon project was due to RMN.
Credit is also due to GWB, just as credit was due to LBJ and RMN.
Credit is also due to "enhanced interrogation techniques," including waterboarding.
American soldiers are waterboarded as part of training.
The notions that all the credit belongs to BHO and waterboarding did not help are politically driven nonsense.
BHO had a chance to be gracious--and let it pass.
BHO's decision to send in the Navy Seals to deal with OBL was the right one. But his reluctance to share credit and acknowledge the benefit of waterboarding was petty and foolish.
Michael J. Gaynor
Biography - Michael J. Gaynor
Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member.
Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's New College, and received his J.D. degree from St. John's Law School, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote on the Pentagon Papers case for the Review and obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer and edited the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law.
The day after graduating, Gaynor joined the Fulton firm, where he focused on litigation and corporate law. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed Gaynor & Bass and then conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed in the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation.
Gaynor currently contributes regularly to www.MichNews.com, www.RenewAmerica.com, www.WebCommentary.com, www.PostChronicle.com and www.therealitycheck.org and has contributed to many other websites. He has written extensively on political and religious issues, notably the Terry Schiavo case, the Duke "no rape" case, ACORN and canon law, and appeared as a guest on television and radio. He was acknowledged in Until Proven Innocent, by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson, and Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin. He appeared on "Your World With Cavuto" to promote an eBay boycott that he initiated and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the Schiavo case. On October 22, 2008, Gaynor was the first to report that The New York Times had killed an Obama/ACORN expose on which a Times reporter had been working with ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief.
Gaynor's email address is gaynormike@aol.com.