Are they Alike?

8/20/04


Question. How is the US Olympic movement, especially the men's basketball team like presidential politics?

I have been watching the 2004 Olympics on NBC this week and I have reached a conclusion. It seems that I am seeing the same type of "in your face" performances that I see daily in the political arena. The US men's basketball team played in a manner that we all expected. They were a group of individuals that were interested in showing how good they are. The issue of a team did not arise. Each player had to show he was the best there was. He had to do this, no matter what the consequences were to the team.

In the current round of presidential politics, I am seeing the same type of thing, particularly in the Democrat and National Media camps. On the Democratic side, I hear reckless charges of misleading or lying to the public about one thing or another. From the media, I see nothing that could hurt the Democratic candidate and nothing that could help the Republican candidate. Neither one of these two seem to realize that the fate of the country could be resting on these actions. Team America is at risk. We are at war. We need to consider this when we take actions that could hurt us in the rest of the world. When a representative of a major political party make statements that embolden our enemies it causes hurt to the country and the brave troops that defend us.

It is good that partisanship exists but as it once did, it should stop at the shorelines. Partisanship is the way compromises and decisions are made. Argue all you want about domestic policy and even foreign policy but stating you will "bring the troops home" during a presidential election time merely tells the enemy that if they can hold out for a little while longer they could win by default.

When not in a presidential race, make your arguments. Attempt to change policy. If the public supports you it will force the leadership to change. Putting any particular time limit on troop withdrawal is simply a bad idea. It is not a good idea to risk the lives of your soldiers so you can be shown as the most important player in the game. We should be a team!

What I Want George W Bush to say

8/13/04

I Am Staying on Board and Continuing to Do My Duty!
On August 30th, the Republican National Convention starts in New York. On the 2nd of September, George W. Bush, the current President of the United States, will accept the nomination of his party to run for reelection ion. I’m sure this is no surprise to anyone. What follows is what I would like to have included in the text of the address that he will give to formalize that acceptance.
I want George W Bush to stand up in the spotlight and say " The age of Political Correctness in defense of this country is past!" If we need to profile to stay safe, do so. We will do what is necessary to protect this country.
I want to have George W Bush address the continuing progress in the war on terror, or as I call it, World War IV. I would like to hear George W. Bush say that he was right to go to war in Iraq. The intelligence sources of almost the entire world including the Senate Intelligence Committee, the CIA, Vladimir Putin , MI5, French Intelligence and many others all agreed that Saddam Hussain . I would like him to remind the country of why we are fighting this war--war was declared on us.
I want to know how we will address the remaining members of the Axis of Evil. What about Syria? I know we cannot attend everything at one time but is there a plan? I really don’t necessarily want the plan spread all over the news, but I want to know one actually exists.
I would like to hear George W. Bush say that although tax cuts were a good idea, it is a better goal for the country to completely reform the tax system. There are several good or better ideas out there to strive for and I (in my second term) will push for a Congressional review aimed at a National Sales Tax such as the Fair Tax.
I would like him to say that although he supports immigration into this country, he wants to have some manner of control of it. He needs to institute a new, sweeping policy of work visas, of border security and cooperation with local law enforcement to control illegal immigration. Undocumented workers are illegal unless they have a visa or work permit. While here, they should be treated fair but not given carte blanch at the trough of the welfare handout.
I would like to hear that "the age of Big Government is over" again, except that this time, I want it to be a real goal. I want to have some indication that the rising entitlements of government have some limits. No longer will this administration mortgage the future to get some votes. I know some of this was motivated by the attempt to bring a more civil atmosphere to Washington. It can’t happen. As long as the Democrats are out of power, there is no bi-partisianship available. Working with Ted Kennedy will only get you dirty, not more votes.
I want to hear that America is growing out of the short recession and that Americans are working in large numbers and that we can feel good about us again.
I want to hear from the Gipper again!

Where does the truth lie?

8/9/04


Is John Kerry qualified to be the commander in chief? It depends on who you ask. If your were to ask the Kerry campaign, you would hear something in the nature of: "Of course! John Kerry served honorably in the Navy, in Vietnam, earning 3 Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star." The Silver Star is the third highest military award designated solely for heroism in combat. The citation states "For distinguished gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States or while serving with friendly forces against an opposing enemy force."

If you were to ask the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth or the soon to be released book, UNFIT FOR COMMAND, you would get a resounding NO WAY! They say he had at least one self inflicted wound for one of the Purple Hearts. They say he distorted the truth to get at least one of his gallantry medals. They have many other awful things to say about the Democratic Presidential Candidate.

If you ask me, I think that the truth, as local talk show host, Neal Boortz says is somewhere in between. Did Kerry go to Vietnam when he didn't have to? Probably. Did he save the life of Jim Rassman, at the time, a lieutenant with Army Special Forces? Yes. Did he perform honorably at the time? Certainly. Can he command the respect of the US Military? I rather doubt it. He spent too much time telling the world how bad the US troops were. How they violated the rules of warfare and the Geneva Conventions and acted " in a manner reminiscent of Genghis Khan." I think that most US Military personnel will find that Mr. Kerry was too critical by far. I think that this attitude will prevail but if, by some chance Mr. Kerry wins, our military is too steeped in discipline and honor to do anything but "Shut up and soldier, Soldier."

Is Unfit For Command accurate? I doubt that it is completely accurate. I doubt that the Kerry version is exactly true. Since John Kerry has told the American public, in an almost sickeningly repetitious manner that he was a hero and since he has made it his primary campaign issue, it is a question that MUST be asked. In the name of fairness, I await additional information. Failing additional information, I think the prudent action is to simply decide that the truth is between the two groups.