I was a little apprehensive when we decided to go into Iraq the second time because many of the American people have shown several times in the past few decades that they have no stomach for war. They demand to know the date it will end on the day it starts. Congress whines that only they have the authority to declare war….but they never do. Not since 1941 have they done so. But they consistently vote to approve funding for the President’s adventures and then stab him in the back at the microphones right after the vote. Congress is gutless.
And armchair critics, battlefield experts all…. despite a collective military service of less than a nanosecond, immediately begin lambasting those who have spent 30 years or more rising through the military ranks and amassing the most war-fighting experience of any people walking the planet. But, Joe Couch Potato and Samantha Soccer Mom know best. Tommy Teenager who can’t even get his ball cap on right knows best. Senator Chickenhawk who once walked past a recruiting office during his closest ever approach to the military knows best.
Now I don't claim to be a military genius, but I know this. The last war we won was WWII and that was because we defeated the enemy. We didn’t just beat on them until they agreed to surrender. We beat on them until they wanted to surrender. To make your enemy surrender, you have to go to war with overwhelming forces armed with the weapons capable of doing the most killing and destruction, and strike with swift, fierce, savagery and keep striking until the enemy is beaten. You have to be willing to take casualties and inflict them. You have to be willing to concede there will be casualties amongst the civilian population. War is a very messy business and unless you have the resolve to see it through and do it right, you should never begin. Just surrender to the enemy, learn their language, adopt their religion, and begin a new way of life....if they let you and your family continue living.
I think it is a mistake to try and liberate a people who haven’t made a serious effort to liberate themselves and lost a lot of lives in the attempt. If liberation isn’t worth it to them, why should it be worth our blood? If we’ve made a mistake in Iraq, that’s probably it. And there will almost always be a certain number of die-hards who have been part of (or at least support) your enemy. We used to call them guerillas. Now we call them "insurgents". You must eliminate as many of them as possible....preferably all of them....by killing them. The rest must have their weapons taken away or you will not be safe and neither will the people who really want to be liberated.
To do this, you must occupy and maintain a tight control over everything while you slowly and carefully turn control back over to the indigenous people when they are prepared and willing to accept it. To ensure their continued security, you usually have to keep a lot of military forces in their country to enable them to spend their revenues building up their own standard of living in safety.
But that's not what we did and we haven't done it since 1945 and we've lost in Korea, Viet Nam, and now probably in Iraq. Maybe even Afghanistan over time. We may have deposed Saddam, but has that really accomplished anything? The Iraqi people want us to leave soon and a growing percentage of our own people want us to leave immediately. Will a free Iraq remain for more than a week after we leave. I doubt it. And why is that? You would certainly think that a people who allegedly suffered so badly under Saddam would be absolutely thrilled to be rid of him.
I think they are at the moment but the new menace really isn't leftovers from Saddam's reign of terror, and it's not just in Iraq. In fact, it's not about government, politics, territory, money, weapons, rights, borders, or anything at all like the things wars are traditionally fought about.
The enemy now is a wide variety of people of many nationalities from numerous countries. They have no politics, no government, and no borders. They are Islamic Fundamentalist radicals. Zealots. They're mostly uneducated so they eagerly grab onto the radical teachings of the radical leaders at the local radical mosque and believe every radical word they're told because surely those words are coming from The Prophet, himself. The non-zealots in Iraq aren't their enemy. We are and so are all the other infidels in the world.
How do we combat such an army? They aren't nationalistic. They won't wear uniforms. They won't fight in traditional ways. What are we to do? If a faction of them succeeded in putting together a nuclear device and detonating it in an American city, who will we retaliate against? We’d better be thinking about that one because when they have the capability, they’ll do it. Meanwhile, the naysayers among us do their best to keep the hands of our leaders tied as they try their best to protect us.
Well, one school of thought is that when a country like Iraq is given freedom, their own people will set up government and housekeeping which will rid the world of the radical element. But that's foolishness. The non-radical muslims are very tolerent of the goofballs among them and as long as they go attack someone else, it's perfectly okay. If that someone else is us, that's perfectly okay too. They know we think we're helping them and they're perfectly happy to accept that help as long as we go away as soon as we're not able to help any longer and then things will seek their own level and life will go on in some fashion. Allah will provide.
So that is why I’ve come to the conclusion that it's time to defend the homeland and let the rest of the world seek its own destiny since the rest of the world....save Great Britain....seems disinclined to help much with what we've been trying to accomplish. And it's time to quit having our own country split down the middle and it's time to stop spending our wealth trying to solve everyone else's problems. If Iraq wanted to get rid of Saddam, their own people needed to do it....just like we threw off King George III, just like the British people created the Magna Carta, and just like the French overthrew their monarchy.
True, Japan and Germany became democratic countries and prospered after WWII, but look what they had to suffer through and look what they put the rest of the world through. Millions of people killed, tens of millions of injuries, grief, carnage, suffering, pain, misery, agony, and countless other descriptive words that aren’t sufficient to adequately describe the horrors and aftermath of war. In short, we should let each country that needs change to see the need themselves and then take the steps to achieve it on their own. Maybe they'll succeed and maybe they'll fail but unless they achieve what they seek on their own, they won’t recognize the value of such change.
So, maybe it's time to bring home our armed forces....from everywhere. Maybe it's time to use them to tightly control our own borders....all of them. Maybe it's time to rethink a lot of our immigration policies. Maybe it's time to put the safety of this country ahead of corporate profits. Maybe it's time to take back the jobs we've sent to third world countries. Maybe it's time to spend our money eliminating poverty, disease, hunger, and homelessness in our own country instead of worrying about everyone else everywhere else. Maybe it's time to quit importing and put tarrifs in place to help balance out our trade deficit. Maybe it's time to start making things again and quit exporting our own natural resources. Maybe it's time to stop being so damn squeemish and politically correct when our government does things to try and protect us from crazed zealots whose prime goal in life is to kill us...all of us....soldiers, civilians, children, women, newborn babies. To them, all are fair targets and we should have not the slightest compunction about sending them to Paradise. That is their goal. We should oblige those zealots, one and all.
To protect ourselves however, we must first grow a national backbone. We have got to resolve to play by rules which favor ourselves over our enemies. We have got to use severe methods and engage in severe actions to combat our enemies and we have to adopt a national mentality which puts the survival and preservation of our way of life at the pinnacle of criticality and damn everything else and damn anyone who seeks to tear us down. If we aren't willing to do that, then we don't deserve the inheritance our founding fathers left us.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
What are my politics?
Fairly conservative, I guess, but I really don't like labels. I'm pretty liberal on some things but consider myself a true Independent when it comes to voting. A lot of Washington voters will flat out state that they're "registered Independents". Problem is, in Washington you don't register to be anything when it comes to a party. Since in this blog we're looking for common sense, here's a question for you:
What are you, and why...............?
Most people consider themselves "something" when it comes to religion and politics. You probably call yourself a Republican or Democrat but think of yourself as being "independent". Why? It's been reported that 85% of Americans believe in God so it stands to reason that most of those people think of themselves as being Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, or Muslim. Why?
I'm not trying to pick a fight here because whatever you want to call yourself or believe yourself to be is completely fine with me. It's just that many years ago, I asked myself these questions and didn't have any good answers. I thought of myself as a Protestant since I was trundled off to Sunday School at the local Presbyterian Church when I was in elementary school but neither of my parents were outwardly religious so I always looked for ways to avoid being sent to Sunday School.
Other kids whose parents were more involved with religion seemed to become more involved themselves and for some reason, they attended the same church their parents had attended. Hardly ever did a Catholic become Protestant or vice versa. On the rare occasions I saw that happen, it was usually because one spouse-to be wanted to accommodate the stronger beliefs of the other spouse-to-be.
And if you are a Protestant, for instance, why are you a Methodist instead of a Lutheran? There are many denominations to choose from and although there are big disagreements over which one is doing communion correctly (or if it should be done at all), and should the Lord's Prayer say to forgive "trespassers" instead of "debtors". Who's right? Where are the stone tablets telling everyone how God wants it done? Is it okay for an offspring to decide to follow a different religion or denomination than the parents?
Same line of questioning holds true regarding politics. I'd bet big money that whatever you call yourself, you do so because the most influential member of your family called him/herself the same thing. Actually, this is probably a good thing. Saves one from having to do all that boring study and information gathering and evaluation to decide what brand of politics seems to suit best. Nope! You just slam your right fist into your left hand and say, "Dad was a Republican and that's good enough for me, by golly!".
Most kids pick up on their parent's politics at an early age. I remember back when Eisenhower was running against Adlai Stevenson for President in the early 1950’s. My best buddy, Bill, was backing Stevenson, the Democrat. I was for Ike. We made frequent trips to the local campaign headquarters of each candidate and loaded up on buttons and other handouts, and we had violent arguments about who was the best candidate. We were in fourth grade.
Bill's folks were Democrats and mine were Republicans....so they said. Bill's dad ran a big excavation company. My dad managed the local JC Penney store. Both moms stayed home and took care of the families and homes. Bill's mom was Catholic but seldom attended services. His dad was a golfer and went to the Church Of The 18 Holes every Sunday morning. My folks were Protestant, apparently, and attended the Presbyterian Church for a brief period but didn't seem to be overtly religious. My dad and I were both golfers. We sometimes went to church with Bill and his dad on Sunday mornings.
So, what am I today? Well, I'm not a card-carrying Democrat or Republican. The last time I filed to run for a partisan office, I filed as an Independent, held my own convention as required by law, and got up my own nominating petition as also required by law. So, maybe that makes me a true independent. I don't know. I tend to vote for more Republican candidates than Democrats but I'll often not vote for anyone for a particular office if none of the candidates seem worthy of my vote. I actually study the candidates, you see, and I go into it a lot deeper than merely reading the little brochures they mail out which usually say nothing at all.
I've also studied the major religions but haven't adopted anything except the basic tenets of them, which is generally a doctrine of how to lead a decent, productive life and to worry about the more important matters and deal with the problems which we face. As for all the rhetoric, rituals, symbolism, and pronouncements often seemingly required before one can be considered a "true believer" of one or another religion, I am perfectly comfortable ignoring them. What I believe or don't believe when it comes to spiritual matters is absolutely no one else's business and no one should have higher regard for me because I profess something they agree with nor hold me in contempt because I don't.
I will, however, leave this clue. Once upon a time, many years ago, one of my daughters asked if I believed in God. I told her it wasn't important to her what I believed. It was only important what she believed. It was night so I picked up my binoculars, took her outside, and had her look up into the sky through high magnification which allows you to see probably 100 times more stars than you can with the naked eye. She said something like, "Wow!". I asked her if she thought all that just happened on its own. She never asked me about my beliefs again. I think she formed her own.
And I think this is the way things should be. At least about the more important things. You have to decide for yourselves whether George Clooney knows more about United States foreign policy than you do….or can learn if you make the slightest effort. You have to decide whether you want Barbara Streisand’s money to determine who will represent you in Congress. Last time I checked, she didn't live in Washington so what's she doing trying to influence who will represent me? You have to decide whether or not your favorite reporter has been spouting facts as he/she doles out the news, or is broadcasting his own version of things in an hour-long editorial. For my part, I can tell you there is not one single source of "news" I completely trust. Not one! The media today is one big sinkhole of bias, deceit, lies, spin, incompetence, and downright disgusting malfeasance often bordering on treason. When it comes to the media, you would be well-advised to just think of it as entertainment since that’s exactly what it is. People wouldn’t watch, listen, or read if it wasn’t.
So, once more I ask. What are you, and why? Do you know?
Fairly conservative, I guess, but I really don't like labels. I'm pretty liberal on some things but consider myself a true Independent when it comes to voting. A lot of Washington voters will flat out state that they're "registered Independents". Problem is, in Washington you don't register to be anything when it comes to a party. Since in this blog we're looking for common sense, here's a question for you:
What are you, and why...............?
Most people consider themselves "something" when it comes to religion and politics. You probably call yourself a Republican or Democrat but think of yourself as being "independent". Why? It's been reported that 85% of Americans believe in God so it stands to reason that most of those people think of themselves as being Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, or Muslim. Why?
I'm not trying to pick a fight here because whatever you want to call yourself or believe yourself to be is completely fine with me. It's just that many years ago, I asked myself these questions and didn't have any good answers. I thought of myself as a Protestant since I was trundled off to Sunday School at the local Presbyterian Church when I was in elementary school but neither of my parents were outwardly religious so I always looked for ways to avoid being sent to Sunday School.
Other kids whose parents were more involved with religion seemed to become more involved themselves and for some reason, they attended the same church their parents had attended. Hardly ever did a Catholic become Protestant or vice versa. On the rare occasions I saw that happen, it was usually because one spouse-to be wanted to accommodate the stronger beliefs of the other spouse-to-be.
And if you are a Protestant, for instance, why are you a Methodist instead of a Lutheran? There are many denominations to choose from and although there are big disagreements over which one is doing communion correctly (or if it should be done at all), and should the Lord's Prayer say to forgive "trespassers" instead of "debtors". Who's right? Where are the stone tablets telling everyone how God wants it done? Is it okay for an offspring to decide to follow a different religion or denomination than the parents?
Same line of questioning holds true regarding politics. I'd bet big money that whatever you call yourself, you do so because the most influential member of your family called him/herself the same thing. Actually, this is probably a good thing. Saves one from having to do all that boring study and information gathering and evaluation to decide what brand of politics seems to suit best. Nope! You just slam your right fist into your left hand and say, "Dad was a Republican and that's good enough for me, by golly!".
Most kids pick up on their parent's politics at an early age. I remember back when Eisenhower was running against Adlai Stevenson for President in the early 1950’s. My best buddy, Bill, was backing Stevenson, the Democrat. I was for Ike. We made frequent trips to the local campaign headquarters of each candidate and loaded up on buttons and other handouts, and we had violent arguments about who was the best candidate. We were in fourth grade.
Bill's folks were Democrats and mine were Republicans....so they said. Bill's dad ran a big excavation company. My dad managed the local JC Penney store. Both moms stayed home and took care of the families and homes. Bill's mom was Catholic but seldom attended services. His dad was a golfer and went to the Church Of The 18 Holes every Sunday morning. My folks were Protestant, apparently, and attended the Presbyterian Church for a brief period but didn't seem to be overtly religious. My dad and I were both golfers. We sometimes went to church with Bill and his dad on Sunday mornings.
So, what am I today? Well, I'm not a card-carrying Democrat or Republican. The last time I filed to run for a partisan office, I filed as an Independent, held my own convention as required by law, and got up my own nominating petition as also required by law. So, maybe that makes me a true independent. I don't know. I tend to vote for more Republican candidates than Democrats but I'll often not vote for anyone for a particular office if none of the candidates seem worthy of my vote. I actually study the candidates, you see, and I go into it a lot deeper than merely reading the little brochures they mail out which usually say nothing at all.
I've also studied the major religions but haven't adopted anything except the basic tenets of them, which is generally a doctrine of how to lead a decent, productive life and to worry about the more important matters and deal with the problems which we face. As for all the rhetoric, rituals, symbolism, and pronouncements often seemingly required before one can be considered a "true believer" of one or another religion, I am perfectly comfortable ignoring them. What I believe or don't believe when it comes to spiritual matters is absolutely no one else's business and no one should have higher regard for me because I profess something they agree with nor hold me in contempt because I don't.
I will, however, leave this clue. Once upon a time, many years ago, one of my daughters asked if I believed in God. I told her it wasn't important to her what I believed. It was only important what she believed. It was night so I picked up my binoculars, took her outside, and had her look up into the sky through high magnification which allows you to see probably 100 times more stars than you can with the naked eye. She said something like, "Wow!". I asked her if she thought all that just happened on its own. She never asked me about my beliefs again. I think she formed her own.
And I think this is the way things should be. At least about the more important things. You have to decide for yourselves whether George Clooney knows more about United States foreign policy than you do….or can learn if you make the slightest effort. You have to decide whether you want Barbara Streisand’s money to determine who will represent you in Congress. Last time I checked, she didn't live in Washington so what's she doing trying to influence who will represent me? You have to decide whether or not your favorite reporter has been spouting facts as he/she doles out the news, or is broadcasting his own version of things in an hour-long editorial. For my part, I can tell you there is not one single source of "news" I completely trust. Not one! The media today is one big sinkhole of bias, deceit, lies, spin, incompetence, and downright disgusting malfeasance often bordering on treason. When it comes to the media, you would be well-advised to just think of it as entertainment since that’s exactly what it is. People wouldn’t watch, listen, or read if it wasn’t.
So, once more I ask. What are you, and why? Do you know?
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Terry's Take
Well, here we go. I've been writing columns for my local paper for a year or so but their ability to find space to publish my stuff has been sort of hit and miss so I'm putting myself on my own schedule....which means there won't be any schedule at all.
In short, I'm gonna write when I feel like writing....and that's fairly often....about a wide variety of topics which will have one central theme: Common Sense. I know, you thought common sense was dead. It's not. It just got really disgusted with what's been going on for the past couple of decades and dropped out of sight. Trouble has been that most are too lazy to look for it or too dumb to recognize it when they stumble across it, or even ask where the hell it's gone to. Some guy even wrote a book about it claiming it was dead.
Fair warning. Most of my stuff will have something to do with government at all levels. Why? Well, I both like and hate government and I couldn't possibly come up with a more fertile field of targets to openly criticize. That's why we have the First Amendment to our Constitution, you know. Our founding fathers wanted the people....that's you and me....to be able to openly speak critically about our government without fear of being persecuted or prosecuted for dong so. The astonishing mockery that our courts have made of that simple but noble thought serves ample notice that "common sense" does not infect most of our learned jurists. In fact, it makes me wonder if they can actually read. At the very least, when I think of a court, I automatically recall one of Henry Fonda's lines in the movie "In Harm's Way". Fonda was portraying Admiral Chester Nimitz during WWII, and remarked that, "Someone once said that even on the most exalted throne on earth, we are still seated on nothing but our own arse.". I think all judges should be required to memorize that line.
Now, I don't care who chimes in and posts comments or questions to this blog but if you don't see your comment, it's because I didn't like it because it was foul, obscene, irrelevant, hateful, or just flat factually wrong. So much for your freedom of speech. Don't like it? Start your own blog.
So, this will be a place for adult, logical, and fact-based dialogue and discourse.
So who's my hoped for audience? Well, primarily northwestern Washington State. Specifically, Skagit County and greater Anacortes residents but I'll get into national politics and world affairs from time to time so I guess that opens the door for everyone, and everyone is welcome as long as you act like a grownup.
In short, I'm gonna write when I feel like writing....and that's fairly often....about a wide variety of topics which will have one central theme: Common Sense. I know, you thought common sense was dead. It's not. It just got really disgusted with what's been going on for the past couple of decades and dropped out of sight. Trouble has been that most are too lazy to look for it or too dumb to recognize it when they stumble across it, or even ask where the hell it's gone to. Some guy even wrote a book about it claiming it was dead.
Fair warning. Most of my stuff will have something to do with government at all levels. Why? Well, I both like and hate government and I couldn't possibly come up with a more fertile field of targets to openly criticize. That's why we have the First Amendment to our Constitution, you know. Our founding fathers wanted the people....that's you and me....to be able to openly speak critically about our government without fear of being persecuted or prosecuted for dong so. The astonishing mockery that our courts have made of that simple but noble thought serves ample notice that "common sense" does not infect most of our learned jurists. In fact, it makes me wonder if they can actually read. At the very least, when I think of a court, I automatically recall one of Henry Fonda's lines in the movie "In Harm's Way". Fonda was portraying Admiral Chester Nimitz during WWII, and remarked that, "Someone once said that even on the most exalted throne on earth, we are still seated on nothing but our own arse.". I think all judges should be required to memorize that line.
Now, I don't care who chimes in and posts comments or questions to this blog but if you don't see your comment, it's because I didn't like it because it was foul, obscene, irrelevant, hateful, or just flat factually wrong. So much for your freedom of speech. Don't like it? Start your own blog.
So, this will be a place for adult, logical, and fact-based dialogue and discourse.
So who's my hoped for audience? Well, primarily northwestern Washington State. Specifically, Skagit County and greater Anacortes residents but I'll get into national politics and world affairs from time to time so I guess that opens the door for everyone, and everyone is welcome as long as you act like a grownup.
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