Of Course I'm Afraid!

 Don't mock me, Mr. President, because you're the one who planted my fear under the guise of keeping us safe.  Now you want me to believe we have nothing to fear from refugees who can't even be proven to be Syrian, whether Muslim or otherwise? People from an area who are at war with themselves and it would seem everyone else who doesn't believe as they do?

You can't have it both ways.  When I can go to a Federal office building and enter without going through a metal detector and being patted down, then maybe I'll relax.  If at my age, sex and race I can go to an airport and board a plane without being molested by TSA personnel, maybe I'll relax.

When TSA personnel quit stealing from my luggage and can catch contraband being smuggled as a test, maybe then I'll relax.

When ISIS closes it's schools that teach kids and women how to be suicide bombers maybe I'll relax.
Maybe too when enough Imams say enough is enough and put some clout behind it maybe I'll relax.

Maybe too, when the cops are once again the good guys, professors actually teach rather than pander and students apply themselves to learning rather than self aggrandizement based on their "world views" I'll relax.

Until then Mr. President, keep your snarky criticisms to yourself.  If you were more interested in the well being of the American people more than your own legacy I'd feel a whole lot better.

If you'd show that the bloody slaughter of hundreds of innocent people by people who wish us all dead is of more concern to us than your view of climate change than I might have some respect for you.

As it is, I do not. So yes.  I'm afraid.  For myself, for my community and most of all for my country and I have you and your ilk to thank for it.  In all fairness it isn't just you, the individual, but also of previous administrations who couldn't be bothered and a Congress who's greatest talent is burying its  head in the sand and a military/intelligence community willing to lie about statistics to protect your agenda.

You, sir, are however the voice of it all and yes, I am afraid of you, of what you've done and what you may yet do.

Are We Finally Waking Up?

With the likes of CBS's Jake Tapper and the Sentate's Diane Feinstein challenging what the President has to say about our ISIS strategy and governors are putting their collective foot down and saying no to taking in Syrian refugees I'm given a modicum of hope.

Today in Turkey the President held firm his stance that there will be no change in our strategy.  Well,  that's easy to believe since there isn't one.  Unless you consider doing the least amount possible a strategy.

Slowly but surely the pro President press and Democrats are beginning to hedge their bets.  They are beginning to see that the Presidential rhetoric is false and that the truth of the situation with Islamic terrorists has once again shown itself in Paris.  Before that the Russian air bus, before that in Lebanon.  Should it happen again here they would all be culpable.

Nine eleven was 14 years ago.  If you believe what goes 'round comes 'round it is only a matter of time until the cells in this country put whatever they're planning into action.  And remember there are groups being watched in all 50 states.

The President would have us believe he listens to his generals.  The generals tell us he doesn't read the intelligence reports made available to him.  I believe the generals.

We've put up with Presidential arrogance for quite awhile now and shrug it off because there is little we can do especially since the Congress seems not to have the ability nor the will to intervene.  The time has now come for that arrogance to be called out.  No one man knows better than the rest of the world combined.  When the vast majority of leaders, scholars and the military are in disagreement with the choices the President makes we need beware.

It was Paris on Friday.  Someone will be next sooner rather than later.  Will it be us? You?  Me?  We deserve more from those we've chosen to lead this country and so does the rest of the world which has always looked to America for leadership and now finds no more than betrayal, false promises and desertion.

What have we done?

Here's To French Resolve

I'm taking French President Hollande at his word when he states the response to the terrorist attacks will be merciless.  I hope he takes it further than the Jordanians did after one of their young pilots was burned alive.  A few air strikes and gone.

Perhaps the difference will be the fact France is not a Muslim country.  Jordan is.

More importantly, someone needs to take the lead in the fight against Islamic radicalism and it sure isn't going to be us. Who better than the French since they've been on the receiving end of terror strikes twice within this calendar year!

What gives me great pause is wondering what would be happening if those attacks had happened here.  I think a lot of breast beating and woe is us for a few news cycles until the furor died down then as is usual with this administration - nothing.

Whatever we've become as a nation will be revealed in no uncertain terms come next November.  Have we really become a "selfie" nation that care more about our personal wants than the good of the nation as a whole?  Have we really come to believe a group of students on college campuses who are still wet behind the ears know better than adults who have lived life and seen the world?

Have we really come to believe that the government is the end all and that no matter how burdensome taxes may be we will get it all back in the form of entitlements?

Have we really come to believe that a Donald Trump will do us proud over a Ben Carson who is belittled because he's a gentleman and a gentle man?  Or that the conviction of a Ted Cruz or or Marco Rubio is offensive?  Why?  Because they seem, at least, to love their country and have ideas on how to put it back on track.

Are we so blase about the abilities of women we're willing to lionize a Hillary Clinton with all her baggage yet won't even offer Carly Fiorina a bowl of milk because she's a Republican?

I hope we have a year to sort it out.  But as France has found out, there are no guarantees no matter the effort.  Those running for office, I am sure, are listening to what former diplomats, military personnel and students of the history of those who oppose us have to say.  The Democrats are not but surely most of the Republicans are.  I hope so; not only listening but actually hearing.

What remains to be seen is if the candidates who would love to lead us not only state their convictions,  it's politically expedient, but also have the courage of them.

In the meantime we must look to France and the allies it can pull together to keep us safe. If anything is un-American it's cowering behind others.  It's time to admit there is no such thing as leading from behind and remedy it.

Terror In Middle America

OMG!  I came to my office to write about our pending leniency with Iran when I saw the headline that a woman has been beheaded in Oklahoma! I'm horrified.  My brother lives in Oklahoma!

I wish I could say I'm surprised but in a very twisted way I'm not.  And the irony, remember the Oklahoma City bombing which took the lives of so many and was perpetrated by a former GI?  If terror is beyond our grasp, we had better get a grip!

It doesn't even have to be a Muslim terrorist.  Just some deranged individual who has seen the reaction of the others who have been beheaded and sees an opportunity for attention.

Now is a good time to address the Iran situation because it surely ties together.  Iran has been a large part of our woes in Iraq.  They fund terrorist organizations, we know that.  They hate Israel.  We know that.  Sanctions had slowed their pace so what are we thinking when we consider allowing them to keep half their already enriched uranium?

Hello Washington.  The rest of the world does not need them in the fight against IS or it's counterparts.  At least if the war is conducted as the generals would have it.  But no.  Our Secretary of State is desparate for a victory no matter what it entails.  Literally arming a known enemy isn't much of a victory in my book, but then who am I?

It puzzles me why the rest of the world doesn't share the urgency for action.  Is it because it has yet to hit their country?  They haven't had to comfort grief stricken parents and family?  They haven't had to see it on You Tube?  England has.  France has.  Where are they?

The horror in Oklahoma exemplifies, to me, what we're likely to see more of as long as beheading is the rage among the misfits. Perhaps it will become more of the proper type of rage now that it has happened here.  I don't care what his motives were or that perhaps he hadn't intended it to go quite that far.  But it did.  He was bent on harm. Period.

Please, Mr. Kerry and Mr. Obama.  Don't ease up on the Iranians.  World, where are you?  Stop them if it becomes likely. Life is difficult enough as is without aiding and abeiting the enemy.  We know who they are.  It doesn't matter what they choose to call themselves or what we choose to call them. Just stop them.

Obama Has The Sadim Touch

What is the Sadim Touch?  The opposite of the Midas Touch. Where everything that is touched is turned into a mess.

In some respects perhaps we should be glad Obama has turned out to be a bystander President rather than a leader.  Everything he touches is either a pending disaster or an unmitigated mess.

Consider Fast and Furious, the IRS scandal, Benghazi, the NSA, violating reporter's privacy,  and now the ACA. Not just the roll out, but the consequences of poorly written and unread legislation  paired with too many "the Secretary shall"s. These are but a few of the unmitigated messes.

The pending disasters are more far reaching in that they are global.  Syria, where Assad gave up his chemical weapons in order to be able to continue slaughtering his people. Since Assad didn't really need them it was no punishment. Not following through on arming the once good guys thus allowing the extremists to gain a foothold.

Cutting off aid to Egypt because of the misguided assumption that because Morsi was duly elected he should remain in office no matter the increasingly dictatorial stance he was taking.

Libya.  What more needs to be said.  Over a year later no arrests for the consulate attack while the press has had a multitude of interviews with those involved.

And now he's about to ease sanctions on Iran with nothing in return.  No freeze on enrichment.  No dismantling of centrifuges.  Leaving everything in place for Iran's nuclear program to continue. Something that has been going on since June, actually.

So what happens now? No one has considered any of the U.S. actions in the middle east to be wise.  Essentially everyone will fend for themselves.  The Taliban in Pakistan has elected the man who threatened school girl Malala as their new leader. Iran will get its nuke.  Pakistan has agreed to sell nukes to Saudi Arabia. Saudi will continue arming the rebels in Syria.  Russia may provide the nuke for Syria if deemed  advantageous.  Jordan will probably fall,  Hamas and Hezbollah will be strengthened.  Iraq will lose out to Iran as will Afghanistan to the Taliban. Al Qaeda will continue to run rampant and spread across Somalia, the Sudan and throughout the weaker African states.

Then there is Israel. With friends like us they don't need enemies! Whatever they choose to do be sure we will not be forewarned.  We have opposed them, besmirched them and finally betrayed them.

All because Obama needed to divert attention from the ACA in an attempt to save his administration from total collapse.  What a trade off. Every mid eastern expert in the world takes exception to our policies if thats what you want to call them.  Peace in our time?  Not by this President's hand.

Unless the negotiations in Geneva come to a total stand still you'll hear the other shoe we've been waiting for - drop.

If You Can't Beat Them, Confuse Them

The American People, that is.  Not so long ago the President told us al Qaeda was all but dead and gone.  Then we had Benghazi which has spawned not only a contradiction but cover up upon cover up.

Now we have dozens of U.S. Embassies scheduled to close tomorrow due to 'credible' threats from - who else? Al Qaeda.

So what's going on here?  Is the administration trying to give credence to the NSA's information gathering by exposing this threat?  If nothing happens they can then say, "See how valuable it is?  We were able to thwart this massive threat."

I for one don't think the terrorist organizations are dumb nor uninformed as to what we do to track them.  I think there is a good possibility they're jerking our chain much as the Russians, Chinese and North Koreans so love doing. If a massive, multifaceted attack is planned I can't see them signalling it to the extent they apparently have.  Also, why if it is expected to be so massive, haven't they done more than warn travellers and personnel in the threatened areas to vacate or avoid it all together rather than just a caution?

Is it just a misdirection while attacks are really planned elsewhere while the attention is focused on North Africa and the Middle East?  Or is it a massive misdirection in an attempt to show the administration is on top of it?

It is puzzling at best.  Will tomorrow come and go with a big nothing and we all sigh in relief yet just down the road on September 11 it starts all over again?

Time will tell. Misdirection, obfuscation and mass confusion seems to be the hallmark of this administration.  Like what was the CIA really doing in Benghazi and if it was so innocent why not tell us or let the personnel be interviewed rather than be threatened, relocated and names changed?

I'd like to wager on what the Sunday closures are all about but I can't.  Only those who caused them know and they aren't talking.  If it isn't purposeful confusion by the administration, I'd think the NSA's listening program's value is questionable at best.  Or do they think they can keep us in line by scaring us one more time?

Pure Evil

The world has gone mad, completely mad and both Christians and Israel are sitting in the cross hairs of the manifestation of hatred and evil beyond belief.

I could not believe this headline when I read it, Arab Spring Run Amok: 'Brotherhood' Starts Crucifixions.  Crucifixions?  Are you kidding? No. According to WND radical Muslims have begun crucifying those opposed to Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi. Naked.  On trees in front of the presidential palace.

I could not believe what I was seeing so I searched about a bit and found other articles reporting the same news. Apparently the victims can be anyone with extra brutality reserved for Christians.

Well, here we go again.  Savagery in the name of religion.  It seems it's not only a normal part of Islamic doctrine but obligatory according to the Quran.  Therefore the Muslim brotherhood is obliged to include it in their legal code in order to comply with Shariah.

We've long known the Muslims are bound to wage war against Christians who in many instances are synonymous with the west.  Us.  Are we not a 'Christian' nation?

Israel is in trouble because they thwarted an attack by Hamas trying to cross into Gaza.  Morsi used this as an excuse to purge the top ranks of the military, those who were fighting to preserve some degree of sanity.

We sit here taking no stand on the slaughter that continues in Syria.  We have taken a back seat to the entire theater of war that has been going on in the middle east for years, giving thumbs up to dictators who we declare redeemable but who never are.  Mubarak.  Ghadafi.  Al Assad.  Karzi.  Now Morsi.  We only give the thumbs down when it's apparent they can't extract themselves from the destruction they reigned down upon themselves.  Why is this?

I know the country is tired of war.  We get into them for all the wrong reasons and stay out of them for the same. Our foreign policy is floundering if indeed we have any.  Leading from behind is not a policy.  Or is it?  That makes it even worse.

Morsi is instituting a reign of terror to consolidate his power.  He will be attending a summit in Iran this month.  That does not bode well. He has an invitation to visit the White House in September.  They will try to convince us he is a moderate.  One more monster we wanted to see in power.

All I can do is ask why?  What are we thinking?  Al Assad is slaughtering his own people by the tens of thousands.  Morsi is having his opposition crucified.  This is pure evil.  Period. Yet we neither hear it, see it nor speak it.

We give Israel the cold shoulder, leaving them to fend for themselves.  We welcome these governments with open arms.  Something is drastically wrong.  We are the west.  We are mostly Christian.  We are targeted. Don't ever think we're not.  Just look at the number of our soldiers being murdered by the Afghans who we're training and providing with the very weapons they use.

Somehow, in the grand scheme of things, I could care less what Mitt Romney paid in taxes the last ten years or whether or not he releases that information.  You want something taxing to worry about?  Consider the future as the countries of the middle east fall like dominoes to the Islamic radicals.  Consider too, these monsters are beginning to be put into office by their own people.

What will we be putting into office?  Better yet, what have we put into office?

What Do YOU Believe And More Importantly, Why?

What kind of a news person, reader, would rather have a terrorist be something other than what they are so as to de-emphasize prejudices? MSNBC's Contessa Brewer. Or as in Judith Miller's case on Fox News Watch , we have to learn to get inside these peoples heads so as to understand them. They both make me cringe and in their own way, they're saying the same thing. The poor mis-understood terrorist.

It's really not all that complicated, ladies. It's their religion. It's what they believe, for whatever reason and no amount of breast beating on our part is going to change that.

I got to thinking about people and their religious beliefs. How long has it been since you have sat down and actually thought about why you believe what you do? There are as many religions and offshoots as there are millions of people believing in their premises. Not all are the same by any stretch. Some promote peace and good will, others live and let live and yet others death to all who disbelieve. Somewhere in that hodgepodge there must be a common thread. I don't think it's the belief in a supreme being as much as it's the filling of an inner need. The need to understand our very existence and justify our place in the world.

Obama wasn't all wrong when he spoke of people clinging to their religion and their guns during times of turmoil. It's a comfort zone, sanctuary even, from the troublesome unknown and least understood. An excellent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal speaks to how those who value their religious beliefs over any nation have found themselves disenfranchised no matter where they reside.

Think about it. This country was settled by people who were disenfranchised from the religious beliefs foisted upon them by England, the Jews, Catholics in Northern Ireland. To varying degrees, it is not just Muslim. They just happen to have the most violent of extremists.

It really has nothing the news folk would so like to find. They aren't necessarily loners, underachievers nor poor and uneducated. It's what they've come to believe and they are just as faithful to their beliefs as we are to ours. We are in a ideological fight with those who's beliefs are the antithesis of ours. Where we would open our arms to include them, they would cut ours off as a punishment.

To try to understand that is futile; better minds than Judith Miller's have tried and failed. And to hope a failed terror attempt was the act of someone other than one with that mindset displays a lack of intellect that should be banned from the air. Changing the color of the skin, the accent or religion makes it no less deplorable. What we don't need is more.

Everything Is Backwards!

One day another one of those home made bombs will go off. Timothy McVeigh proved it some years back. Those pesky bombs can indeed work.

I think the one main reason I will never again vote for a Democrat for President is because of their distaste for being prepared for war. Obama is gutting our defense much as Carter did. I'm all for nations being anti-war, too bad more of them aren't. But we really need to face facts. The world is at war with Islamic radicals. We've been lucky under Obama. The attempts on U.S. soil have so far been duds. The troublesome thing is so many are getting so close. Sure, they've been caught, but it's by their own lack of expertise rather than our intelligence working.

I just don't think we have a grasp on how wars are fought today. The enemy wears no uniform and many times live among us. We can't "profile" them for fear of offending their sensibilities. Foreign leaders who are in power thanks to us and us alone are constantly criticizing us for civilian casualties. So we try harder, putting our own at more risk to save theirs who won't turn in the culprits that would save everybody a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Everything is backwards!

Consider the administration's quest for nuclear disarmament. What do we do but tell them exactly what we have! Secretary of State Clinton tells us it's in our national security interest to be as transparent as we can about the nuclear program of the United States.

Here we are like sitting ducks for every discontented terrorist want-to-be who happens to be in the United States. They learn how to make their bombs from countries who hate us and everything we stand for. Sure it's going to get them in line by telling them everything we have and what we plan to do with it - other than shrink the stockpile. By the way, how many countries have followed suit to date?

It's all backwards. An administration that promised transparent and open government drafts and passes legislation that is the antithesis of transparent and expects us to be happy with us. They know best. We're too dumb to understand and it's for our own good.

Explain to me, please, why they are more transparent about our national security apparatus with enemies than with legislation under which we are going to be forced to live?

It's all backwards.

They Will Always Slip Through

You have your ticket. You arrive at the airport. You pay what you need to for your luggage to get lost. Security comes next. All your body parts are where they're supposed to be and there is nothing untoward to set off sirens. So far so good. You get to board. As long as you don't have to use the lavatory for a half hour you figure you're good to go.

Oops. Not so fast. It would seem a nut case got through after all! According to the AP, just that happened on a Delta flight going from Atlanta to Paris earlier today.

An American passenger, after having boarded and the plane in the air, claimed to have a fake passport and explosives in his luggage. What? Explosives in his luggage after all the screening? Security couldn't tell a fake passport? Oh well, you didn't want to get to Paris in a timely manner anyway.

The plane was diverted to Maine and the TSA and other officials took over. Last heard there is doubt the passport is fake. There will probably be no explosives found in man's luggage either!

This just goes to show that no matter how stringent they make security measures, how invasive they may be to our person and luggage, they can do nothing about what may be in someone's head!

So we're being subjected to all of this why? To keep us safe, to dissuade those who would do us harm? Whether or not this particular person proves to be a real threat or not, you can be sure someone, somewhere will be and there's not a darn thing that can be done to stop it.

Foreign Policy By Appeasement And Spin

To say that this administration has a complex foreign policy would be an understatement. After months of complaining that voter fraud tainted the recent Afghanistan election, it seems now we're acquiescing to Karzai's "poor me" stance. Hillary Clinton even went so far as to call him a reliable partner !
I wonder if Ahmadinejad does too since his visit! This man who threatens to join the Taliban, whose brother is one of the major drug lords in the country and whose cabinet is chock full of corruption! So now we're going to play warm and fuzzy with this 'strong and vital American ally' because his feelings have been hurt. We're to express sympathy for the pressure he feels as commander in chief of a warring nation!

Well, he wanted the job! He threw the election once and was well on his way to a second time when his opponent withdrew. What's the adage about not standing the heat?? Heck, he wasn't even in the kitchen!

As all of this is carefully placed in the sound bite archives, Hillary comes back on stage to tell us we need fear that al Qaeda is obtaining nuclear weapons material. That's a little different than Iran seeking the big bomb. Which, by the way, we have yet to stop. You see, al Qaeda isn't even a country! Their figure head of a leader supposedly lives in a cave and their weapon of choice seems to be explosives strapped to one's body and detonated, or not, at the appropriate time!

For the sake of argument, however, let's say they get what they need for a bomb. And learn how to build it, enrich the fuel rods and explode it. Where will all this take place? My guess is they will choose a country that the U.S. has pledged no retaliation against other than with conventional weapons. I would. Heck conventional weapons haven't put them out of business yet as they blend into the populations of where ever they choose to be!

To surge or not to surge, to criticise or pacify, to fear acquisition of nuclear material by those who are capable of using it or those who are not. Talk about a spin zone. I wager even Bill O'Reilly has trouble keeping up!

It's Time For American Muslims To Get A Grip

We give the Muslim community far more of a pass when it comes to scrutiny than most nations. They yell loud and long about profiling and we run away with out tail tucked between our legs. Even when we have them dressed in the uniform of the United States Army or a cab driver from Denver intent on blowing up the New York subway system. I'm sick and tired of Americans looking like the enemy!

Just what would you think? A group of Muslims in a parking lot in Henderson, Nevada. Seven of them. Praying. The scene made someone nervous and police were called. The Muslims were questioned for around a half hour. Now a complaint has been filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations stating the scope and length of the stop was unreasonable and served no legitimate investigative purpose.

Did it not? I'm sure it made whoever notified the police feel better. Remember, when in Islamic countries we are expected to act as they do and when it comes to attire, women must abide by their laws. The old adage of when in Rome do as the Romans do. It should go both ways but we seem faint hearted when it comes to expect the same. To go to prayer in a public parking lot is, to me, a gesture of "in your face America".

Why does it rile me so much? Because they want a pass on their unwillingness to reign in their own. Look at the map. Look at the proximity to Boulder Dam? The next picture is of the highway. It goes right across the top of the dam. After 9/11 the government was so concerned about an attack on the dam they rerouted truck traffic and instituted vehicle searches for others.

So great was the concern they are permanently re-routing the highway. This is the progress as of last fall when we went through, a bridge a long way from being finished. Meanwhile the vehicle searches continue and nerves remain on edge especially with the escalation of terrorist activity within our own borders.

I don't feel like being politically correct today. As far as I'm concerned the authorities should have been called and the questioning was prudent to say the least. If the Muslims want better relations with the Americans it's time for them to be more vocal against jihad and quit pretending they are shocked, shocked that they should be suspected of anything other than praying in a parking lot in Henderson, Nevada, a blink away from Hoover Dam.

The Terrorists Get The Last Laugh

Did you ever, in your wildest dreams, expect to witness the demise of the airline industry? I sure didn't but I fear it may be fast approaching.

Meanwhile back in the cave the terrorists are getting one more good laugh. The industry is going broke. We are now paying extra for everything including our luggage. Crews have been cut to the bone and their attitudes show it. Pilots are under trained and over tired. Forget the possibility of a passenger having explosives tucked in his BVDs. If all the afore-mentioned is true how can you possibly feel safe on a plane? I would not bet that maintenance shines where all else does not.

Never-the-less, we must be kept safe at all costs because another terror attempt may succeed. We are patted and probed and puffed with air. Now we are to be bared for total strangers to see. Yet that isn't enough. Security personnel are going to be roaming the concourses choosing people at random for more searches and swabs. Tell me. I've never, ever seen it. How many "terrorists" have been stopped by any of this?

So here we are. It takes longer to fly from Spokane to Seattle than to drive yet both Boeing and Air Bus are working on planes that will seat up to 800 passengers. We'll have to get to the airport a day ahead of our flight to get everyone through security and still hope all the gadgetry works!

You know what? The terrorists are still getting the last laugh. Every time we go berserk from a near miss they are busy figuring out their next tactic. They are way ahead of us.

Just today a flight from Denver to San Francisco was diverted to Salt Lake City. Who and what got through? A note. Pencil to paper. A bomb threat. Found in the galley.

The plane is being searched. Luggage is being "sniffed" on the tarmac. Passengers are being rescreened. Plans delayed. Nerves frayed. The industry in chaos once again.

Will they find who wrote the note? What price will we pay when they don't?

The Depths Of Hatred

Literally! It's really difficult for me to understand the depth of hatred of those in the Muslim world who would eliminate us. They take one upping our attempts at security to continually higher levels.

Now that the world is about to embrace whole body scanners, having found wanding to be ineffective, the radical element has issued another "catch me if you can" element to the battle of wits. Planting explosives within the body. In breast implants no less! Is nothing sacred? Perhaps the hatred itself. To those who are consumed by it.

Britain's MI 5 has learned that the planting of explosives within breast implants for women or around the appendix area for men opens a whole new realm of possibilities. They can be planted deep enough that the scanners do not detect them. They would be detonated by inserting a syringe into the protective sac.

I see a few flaws in this. For the men it might be passed off as a diabetic giving himself a shot. I might be suspicious seeing a woman inject her breast. Of course, if not detected in time suspicion would be moot.

I find it doubtful that women are being used for suicide bombings willingly. Once on a plane out of the reach of my handlers I'd give the whole idea the heave ho unless I was so juiced on drugs or brain implants I didn't know what I was doing. I just don't see women wanting to sacrifice themselves to the gender who has built an ideology around abusing them. Then again, it's all in what you know. If that's it and you know of nothing else perhaps you are more willing than one would think.

As for the men? We already know there are enough nut cases looking for their 72 virgins to keep attempts coming, probably forever.

Here I had just about convinced myself that the screening machines would probably be preferable to being pawed only to find out they may be obsolete before they're even installed!

No one ever accused the Islamic radicals of being dumb. They are smart and clever and full of hate. We too are smart and clever. We just seem to be behind the curve rather than ahead of it. That would seem to be a matter of motivation. For the moment they're winning.

It's time to stop the dumbing down of America so that the rest of the world feels more equal with us. We're America. We're supposed to be the leaders of the free world, leading in innovation and ideas and principles.

It's time to reclaim our place. If this administration won't do it we need to get one that will.

We Have Nothing To Fear...But The Bush Administration

My more liberal friends, at least those who are still enthralled with President Obama, have continually admonished me to be patient ever since I began hedging my support.

The Obama administration has been in place for a few days shy of a year now. They own it all. Though the "Democratic strategists" who are often foils on the talking head shows don't seem to agree. Have you ever noticed that whenever asked a direct question they always fall back to what the Bush administration did? I've got a hot flash for them. The Bushies have been out of office for a year now!

Rather than "changing" what the Bushies did wrong, it seems to me they are continuing the same practices. Mainly, governing by fear. Take health care. Mandating that everyone buy insurance or face fines or jail time. If that isn't fear, I don't know what is! Add to that the uncertainty of a plan being put together behind closed doors that the President would like to have voted on the day Congress returns. That's darned scary!

That's pretty mild, however, when compared to the national security fiasco. Why is it the American public is being made to pay for their foul ups? It isn't the American public that didn't connect the dots. It was the administration! The Islamic radicals are not boarding planes in this country; they're coming from overseas. Yet we're being put through intrusive hoops of questionable value. It isn't the American public who had a Muslim Major counseling soldiers returning from combat. Counseling them about what? Killing Muslims! It was them!

Somehow they always manage to tie it back to the Bush administration. One thing they won't be able to tie back is the decision to try these Islamic extremists in our civilian courts. What if, just what if, one of them was to be acquitted? Maybe the underwear bomber. Due to inability to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. What we we do with him?

Sorry. This wouldn't even be close to a reasonable question if the Bush administration was still in power. No way. No how. I'm not defending Bush. I am saying Obama is proving to be very much the same. That to me is something to fear.

A Dysfunctional Government

When commenting on the Christmas day terror attempt, the President had this to say, "We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable."

He might begin by looking within. You see, as bad as Napolitano's flip flop on how security measures are working was, there's an even more egregious element. The TSA, which answers to her, has no permanent administrator. First, it took Obama eight months to even nominate one. Then Jim DeMint, Republican from South Carolina, objected on the basis the nominee might allow the screeners to join a union.

While I'm no supporter of Unions, Obama is. Consider, too, that the American Federation of Government Employees, around since 1932, already has 600,000 members! Organizing screeners might well be on the drawing board. Frankly, I'd rather have them organized than to be without leadership!

All the puffery by Senators about the system being , lost and bloated or complaining about there having been five administrators in eight years ought to look at themselves!

So who is this administrator waiting in the wings? One Erroll Southers, a former FBI special agent, LA airport's assistant chief of homeland security and intelligence plus being a professor on counter-terrorism and associate director of the USC Homeland Security Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events.

Having read about him I think perhaps he should have Napolitano's job. He certainly has the credentials she lacks!

So there you have the problem. The President awards the top job as political payback then drags his feet on the nomination of the man who would cover her, uh, you get the idea. Then a Senator holds it up because of his own ideology and political agenda. The other Senators weighing in know this so disregard their self-rightous outrage.

It's called politics. When it's realized that the world today calls for more than playing the game, we might be safer. Until then our government, not al Qaeda, will be our own worst enemy.

It's Time For Profiling

I'm sorry. Our government has done it again. In Obama's remarks this afternoon he said this. "As Americans we will never give into fear and division."

We already have. To put the traveling public through what they are now enduring is criminal. Old ladies and men, children. Come on. I heard one story this morning about an elderly lady wearing a leg brace being forced to remove it. None of this is keeping us safe. It is one more example of the government not doing it's job and the public pays. Do you really want these people running our health care?

You have to understand the man with the potential explosive did everything right when it came to boarding the plane. He had a legal visa, in Nigeria one pays cash for everything so cash for the ticket was not an issue there, he was coming here to go to school hence the one way ticket. He has a home here and a home in Nigeria hence the small carry on bag. What's to question?

It's the inner workings that are lax. The inner workings are not going to be fixed by searching every man woman and child in the world. Not to mention destroying the airlines.

To be fair, this didn't start under Obama but he hasn't helped it any. By putting a state governor into the position of Secretary of Homeland Security just because she governed a border state is sheer madness. Had she resolved the problem of illegals from Mexico entering Arizona I might think she has a clue. But she didn't and doesn't. After all, she's the one who claimed the system worked before being taken to the wood shed and recanting.

That the man's father was concerned enough about his son's radical views that he warned American authorities doesn't indicate an internal family matter to me. Had I been the authority I'd have done some checking. Boy, what I would have found!

The watch and no fly lists are so huge they're impossible to monitor effectively. Obviously. Once it's found your on it, it's nearly impossible to get off. Senator Edward Kennedy could have told you about it. He was on it. As is CNN's Drew Griffin. Explain it!

Congress is so anxious to pass laws let them pass one allowing profiling. It is in our national interest! Forget political correctness and let the old ladies, men and kids be!

Oh, along with that law include this. Every member of Congress must fly commercial and go through the same security procedures that we do. No special lines to side step it. Remove shoes. Get wanded. Get patted down. Get a full body scan at airports that employ it. Get the air puff test. Stay in your seat the first half hour after take off and the last hour of the flight. Makes it interesting for a 90 minute flight doesn't it? And Senator Schumer, stay off your cell phone or lose it. No more delaying flights or having a crew member suffer your verbal abuse.

You represent us. Be one of us! Maybe then the review of the system Obama asked for might be actually be worth while!

"Failure Is Not An Option"

Have we really come to this? Both the President and the Attorney General have stated, unequivocally, that Khalid Shaikh Mohammad and his co-defendants will be found guilty and executed. What an appalling statement.

It's not just the fear a lot of Americans have about these terrorists being brought to New York City to be tried in Federal Court. It's what the rest of the world is seeing. The reason behind this faulty exercise is to showcase how wonderful our justice system is. How the United States is the shining beacon on the hill of fairness.

Well, perhaps at one time. Whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? Even the most heinous of criminals, those we know are guilty, are given that right. So what about these self admitted terrorists? They've already confessed. Because there has to be a trial in a death penalty case even when one confesses. However, with those admissions having been obtained while they were under duress, how will it muddy the pool of evidence?

How can they possibly seat a jury of their peers? Or does that go by the wayside? What if no Muslim is in the jury pool? Would that be reason for appeal? Then add to it all that I've written in previous posts. It's a difficult situation now made more difficult.

It seems we're at a point where we see a decision not being made because Obama is "thinking things through" or a decision being made, credited to an underling, that has provoked a horrendous backlash. The underling, Mr. Holder, is bearing the brunt of the decision.

The troops in Afghanistan are bearing the brunt of the "thinking things through" mode. Now the delay in troop deployment is being extended while an exit strategy is being examined. I'm to the point I want to hear no more about how poorly the Bush administration handled Iraq. Obama is doing no better in his war of necessity.

Yesterday I stated my lack of regard for anything Sarah Palin including the opinion she is not nor ever will be Presidential material. I'm beginning to wonder the same about the man who currently holds the office.

This Guy Isn't A Young Santa!

Forget the beard. Gifts you get from this guy would be better left unopened!

Okay. I'm over my vacation thoughts and am back in my "what can they possibly be thinking" mode. Like the pussy footing around the Fort Hood Massacre in attempt to make it something other than what it was. An Islamic act of terror.

My worry today, however, is the inanity of trying the September 11 terrorists and the mastermind behind it in our civilian courts, in New York City yet! Whoever made this decision is mad. Quite mad. Everyone involved in making it. All of them.

Look at the lead time they have given jihadis and jihadi wannabes already within the country to plan! I do not for one minute believe we can out think these people on how they might breech security.

I envision the entire city grinding to a halt. I envision several possible scenarios. Either the feds will close down the entire city for the duration of an open ended trial or everyone entering the city will have to pass through check points. Can you imagine the nightmare of that alone? Have you ever traveled to New York City? You have airports, bridges and tunnels. Can they all be adequately protected? At what expense?

Then there is the already faltering economy of the city. It would die. Who in their right mind would want to vacation there during that period? There goes tourism. Broadway. Restaurants. Shopping. Attractions. Not to mention services denied people who live there.

What New Yorker in their right mind wants this going on in their backyard?

Then there is the trial itself. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed wants to be his own attorney. That means he has the right to see every bit of classified information we have! That's just dandy. Especially if he happens to be acquitted or sprung by "friends". He could also be assassinated by those same friends to martyr him as a recruiting tool. Or they could cause mischief in other parts of the city, or country for that matter, while all eyes and security are focused on the trial.

Come on. You know how the media is going to act. It's going to be a circus. Like Michael Jackson's trial a few years back, or O.J.'s. And guess what? They both got off! It will only take one juror to deny the death penalty, no matter how strong the evidence. Then, if convicted at all, we'll get to support them for the rest of their lives.

It's time for Obama's apology tour to stop. We are at war. We have no obligation to bear our souls or anything else to anyone! They tell us this is to showcase our justice system to the rest of the world. To show them we're good people and fair. Who thought that up as a necessity? I'll buy into it when the countries these men came from do the same.

Let's change the meaning of "politically correct" to mean we do something that makes sense for this country rather than placating those who hate us!

They're Keeping Us Safe?

We were driving past Colorado Springs when we picked up the Allen Hunt Show on the radio. He was in the middle of taking the media and military and the President to task for dancing around the Fort Hood slaughter. His view was it was an act of jihad pure and simple.

It puzzles me why the argument over semantics. When someone shoots 13 people to death and wounds dozens more, how can it be anything other than an act of terror? Even more to be terrified of is the lack of backbone to address it for what it is.

I think the problem goes beyond what the talking heads and the military are dithering over. I think it's a matter of order. One thing about Islamic jihadists, extremist Muslims, is that they are Muslims before citizens. Islam is a religion, not a country. They believe in the teachings of the Koran. The view of those teachings seems to vary. Some claim it's peaceful. Others say it's a dictate to eliminate, kill, infidels. Us. The non-believers.

What I see is the difference of how America views things versus other countries. We have Black Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and so on. Herein lies the problem. The distinguishing factor is always placed before America rather than after.

How are people with different ethnic backgrounds referred to if citizens of France or Italy or Great Britain? Are they Black British or Black French? Or are the merely British and French? Do they merge into the society with distinction no greater than happening to be black or brown?

Okay, that's race. Now religion. Are they Muslim Americans or American Muslims? Jewish Americans or American Jews? Do you get the drift? American should come first. Period.

But America didn't come first. He dressed as a Muslim when off duty. That should be his right? If so then why should our military women be required to cover themselves when off base in Islamic countries? Or our reporters for that matter. You see it all the time. Respect for the Islamic way? Absolutely. How about respect for ours.

Our political correctness and quest for diversity needs to be examined. This incident will make every Muslim suspect. Militia recruiting is likely to surge.

As Americans continue to be strip searched, literally, at airports in the guise of "keeping us safe", we've been missing the boat. The enemy is within. They are those of the 'Muslim first' mind set.

Mr.Hunt did some research to educate his readers. He counted the number of Muslims in the U.S. who had been arrested, tried, or convicted of attempted terrorist activity. He came up with 66 since the first of this year. Sixty six. It's out there. Here. Is it time to start paying more attention to those who are suspect? Is it time for some degree of profiling? It's going to happen again. Next time it may be a shopping center rather than an Army base. Who knows? What is known is they are here and they are active.

That scares me. It's a terrible way to live. You see, I'm just a plain American. It doesn't matter what color I am nor what faith I profess. I'm an American, pure and simple, and I'm terrified of terror glossed over by those who should know better so as not to offend those who hate us because we don't believe as they do.