On the 18th of April in seventy-five Hardly a Man is Now Alive Who Remembers that famous date and year Of the Mid-night Ride of Paul Revere Stray Voltage Over at Defense News retired Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Loh argues for the elimination of duplication as a means of achieving true service interdependence. What he really means is Army, Navy, and USMC give up you aircraft the USAF will take care of you. I know what that means, just like the Army gave up the C27 to the USAF only to see them cancel it [...]
And There You Have It
I suppose this is the new normal. “Normal.” Right. You know which country’s military is NOT holding gay pride festivals? China. They’re not interested, I daresay. Not interested in gay pride, or Black History Month or Left-Handed Presbyterian Heritage Month or any of that other horseshit. They’re interested in beating us. And they’re working assiduously at it. One day we’ll rue our utter foolishness, and wish we could turn back the clock.
Independence and Liberty
Independence Day greetings to all my fellow Americans! (And a word of apology– I had wanted to have this up before now, but the unforeseen decline and death of my beloved cat set me back a bit.) Today we commemorate the giant leap forward in the human political condition that was the signing of the Declaration of Independence. MMM today has the full text of the document; PLEASE read it, especially the point by point indictment of King George III and his “long train of abuses and usurpations.” Beautiful words, and as true today as they were then. Abuses and [...]
Why We Should Do Nothing About Libya!
I am no fan of the actions of the mad man Colonel who runs Libya. He is crazy like a fox. Despite what Eugene Robinson and others say, it is none of the US business what happens in Libya. We can’t nor should we intervene in the internal affairs of every country whose leader who unleashes his forces against the citizens of that nation. The best thing the US can do is to sit back do and say nothing–except for getting American citizens out of Libya–that is our only interest. Until Gaddafi does something that truly threatens the National Security [...]
Spoiled Brats
From the New York Post an Army veteran heckled an Army Veteran over the question of whether ROTC should be allowed back on the Columbia Unviersity Campus. I have a suggestion, lets revoke all federal student loans, grant and research money; pull all Army Officers studing in their graduate school and their law school out of Columbia. Then let the spoiled bastards both students and faculty who suck off the public teat figure out how to pay for their elite Ivy League Education. As for the military officers studying there, I am sure DoD can find a good University that will [...]
Right Scrutiny, Wrong Target
We had a good laugh about this the other day. Not, as you might guess, about the unfortunate Mr Greene, but more about some of the lines from his evals, which I think ought to make most military folks laugh, because, well, we all know someone like that. “COLUMBIA, S.C. — Surprise U.S. Senate nominee Alvin Greene frequently mentions his 13 years of military service, but records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press show that the veteran who has called himself an “American hero” was considered a lackluster service member at best. “The records, which document his superiors’ decisions to [...]
Bob Herbert
I rarely agree with Bob Herbert of the New York Times while a very knowledgeable man, I find his trendy liberalism hard to take—most of the time. However, there are occasional exceptions, today’s piece by Herbert entitled “A Fearful Price” is one of them (New York Times, December 8, 2009. Page 37). Before commenting on his commentary, here are two quotes from his piece: “The idea that fewer than 1 percent of Americans are being called on to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq and that we’re sending them into combat again and again and again—for three tours, four tours, five [...]
Politicans and the Troops
Soldiers, Sailors, Airman, and Marines are not political props. Whether announcing a new strategy at West Point or proclaiming Mission Accomplished on the deck of the Abraham Lincoln, politicians regardless of party need to stop this practice. It is disingenuous to our democratic principles as it gives the appearance of a stamp of approval by the military of the President’s policies. It is wrong, as those in uniform have only one choice to salute and execute the President’s policies—they are not free to dispute the policies of their political leadership. (Yes I know they do have other choices they can [...]
Pelosi and the CIA
I am putting this under the heading of rants, because I find the behavior of the Speaker of the House this week towards the CIA loathsome. She is a political opportunistic and seeks to appease her liberal base in San Fransisco, who are out of the mainstream of American politics. In today’s Washington Post, David Ignatius take the Speaker to task for playing politics with the CIA. If there is one aspect of this sordid behavior which deserves commending is the response of the CIA Director Leon Panetta who made it clear in his response that the Speaker was not [...]
Stupid People
I enjoy shooting. Friday, my wife and I stopped at a local shooting range, it is run by a gun store owner and has about 15 firing points ranging from 15 yards to 100 yards.
