Liberty in the Years of Fear

We have seen it before and we will see it again, our freedoms strangled to the point of choking and then given back to us though never in quite the same form as they were before.  John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts, Lincoln and the Civil War caused him to suspend Habeas Corpus among other things,the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, The Labor Strikes of the early 20th Century, The Red Scare, FDR and the Japanese Internment Camps, The Blacklists of the 1950's and the Patriot Act are all fine examples of the freedoms we sacrifice in times of fear and hysteria which is often exploited for political gain.  Now a new leadership will assume the mantle of responsibility for this Nations direction and we must not be cowed like frightened sheep and herded into further constraint.  I feel there is light ahead but hard questions must always be asked by our media and our citizens whenever someone on Capitol Hill suggests we cross out a line in the Constitution in order to make Americans safer.  Just something to ponder as we see the sun rise on our best and brightest as they take up the mantle. Click Here to Read More.. Sphere: Related Content

When an Uninvited Guest Comes to Visit and Doesn't Die

The political landscape of India - Pakistani relations has just become all the more interesting thanks to a Terrorist who didn't die as he was so ordered.  In addition to the details of his Lashkar -e-Tayiib' plot, training and background also comes the political fallout of how India will react and to whom the Indian government may turn to for help.  Be assured new ties will be forged and old ties will be strengthened in the pursuit of the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks.   The impact of the Mumbai Terror attacks attacks on the geo-political landscape will pancake Islamic extremists further between Allied Western interests if relations and intelligence agency cooperation between India and The United States and Britain tightens as it already seems to become a reality.  Further rocking the landscape lies Pakistan, the exacerbater in this carnage in India.  Having created this monster known as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba among other names, Pakistan will feel the political pressure beyond India's demands for those responsible and a far greater concentration of Intel and Covert Operations than they have already experienced in America's War on Terror. Thanks to a living breathing perpetrator and a Satellite phone still warm from the calls made to the instigators of this most heinous attack, The Law of Unintended Consequences is about to come home to roost in the Pakistan's backyard.  The game board of the Far and Middle East just became more checkered with Western flags thanks to Lashkar you may not see them waving but their breeze will be felt long after the the table is cleared of the flotsam and jetsam left by these hateful interlopers. Click Here to Read More.. Sphere: Related Content

The General Who Would Be King

For those outraged by the idea that President Elect Barrak Obama might retain Secretary Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense and appoint Gen. Jim Jones USMC Ret. to be his National Security Advisor to the President, I can say I feel far more at ease with the latter choice than I do the former.  General Jim Jones has serverd in combat earning the Silver Star and the Bronze Star with Combat V, earning the respect of his fellow Marines in the process.  As the Former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, he has been in direct contact with many of the foreign services whose intel assistance we will be in dire need of to coordinate our limited military and intel assets on the new stage of Terrorist and Machiavellian Medici-like warfare this new century presents us.  The latest cyber-attack on the Pentagon, the Alexander Litvinenko radiation poisoning in London last year and the Mumbai attacks of late are a paltry few examples of the challenges the United States faces.  We should rest much easier when we know there will be a professional who knows the players we need to interact with on a daily basis but also understands the consequences and responsibilities this nation assumes when choosing to unleash the dogs of war.

Sec. Robert Gates on the other hand is a retention choice I am loathe to concur with for a number of reasons including his drilling business contacts, his former CIA role, his Air Force Background and his involvement in a corporate Board selling voting machine cryptography. There's also his involvement in Iran-Contra... all of these issues you can Wikipedia and or dig deeper, suffice it to say he makes me nervous just on the face of all these involvements.  The Air Force has not impressed me much with its brand of procurement process the latest example being the Air Tanker Bidding Snafu.  With our economy in recession we will desperately need fiscal restraint and agile procurement methods to make the most of our defense spending.  Other than the fact you don't change horses in the midst of a race, and I can see the value of continuity at the pentagon until the President gets his house in order, I can only discern Our President-elect is extending an olive branch to the conservatives and giving Robert Gates a Chance to prove that he holds the post by merit and not by Political caveat.  I'm just a grunt but I know it's an ugly room to walk into when you are the new guy trying to find your turf and there are some ugly rooms in the Pentagon.

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First Post: Post Thanksgiving musings

Hi:

I'm not wealthy, I'm slightly well educated.  I don't really have a job, being disabled.  However I try to keep some irons in the fire as best I can and contribute as best I can.  I guess the lessons of excess will help give a point of view from one who has touched the gutter yet not quite ready to wallow in it.  So if you want to hear how things are looking from someone who eats a meal at the local soup kitchen occasionally, reads the News and studies History with a less pedestrian perspective on the present(having served in the Marine Corps);  then perhaps some of what I might blather here will be of insight... if not sorry for the eyestrain hope your medical covers bifocals.

Turkey and all the fixings....

I shudder to think of what thoughts might run through the minds of dissatisfied third world youths when they see images on a TV in an electronics store in Downtown Abu Dhabi of Americans Bowling Turkeys for sport when they have scrounged for a piece of bread that day.  What better recruiting propaganda could the militants of this world ask for than that delivered to their doorstep by the Ad Men of America.  Our Media and culture have become numb and indifferent to the sensibilities of the peoples whose hearts and Minds our current Administration has been trying to win over.  On the Fox News website last evening they were touting a headline with a Photo of an innocent bystander being cut down by the Terrorists in Mumbai with a video of it happening.  Cut to the Video of this hapless bystander in the throes of death and you get to watch a commercial just before you witness his date with the Grim Reaper.  I had a wonderful Turkey Dinner with all the fixings right after that.  Thanks Fox News.

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