What Manner of Men (and women)

 I keep hearing that Biden is leading from behind. It may have come before, but I first heard the phrase during the Obama administration.

It is murky at best.  To me, the phrase is an oxymoron.  To lead means to be out front.  To be behind is just that.  Being behind.

With this administration, it seems even worse. Leadership is an illusion. I have never in my life seen so many in leadership roles, of both parties, deny to the country that which has worked well because they so hate the man who held the presidency when put in place.

This is more than petulant, it is sick. How can all these elected officials march in lockstep?  Surely, there are a number of them, again on both sides, who know how wrong they are and what damage is being done to the country. Why do they not step forward and say, "Enough! This has to stop!" What manner of men and women are they?

This goes far beyond the decisions about Ukraine that are dithering in the netherworld of Washington. It goes to the elimination of the Keystone pipeline in favor of reinstituting the Iranian Nuclear Deal which will give Iran a free hand in their pursuits while we get nothing. Having Russians as mediators, to boot. 

This has to do with pushing the Green New Deal when the technology is nowhere near ready for prime time. 

This has to do with allowing an egomaniacal and corrupt Agency head to dictate policy that has destroyed lives, physical and mental well-being, and economic stability for over two years, and who would still be doing so had not the war in Ukraine taken front and center.

This goes to the open border policy in our own country with everything from drugs to children and sex traffickers, to gang and cartel members, and who knows who else, free entry. And I mean free for we, the taxpaying citizenry, are footing the bill for all of them.

 It's sad. It's disheartening. Whatever happened to the swinging pendulum? If it's still out there, the time is past due for it to start swinging back.  If it's going to get hung up, let it be in the center.

Think About It

 I've been thinking a lot lately.  Mostly about questions for which I have no answers.  It is very frustrating.

One subject that is at the forefront of the current dialog.  If we create a  no-fly zone over Ukraine we will start World War III. This seems to mean that Putin will unleash his arsenal of nuclear bombs on the western world.

Would he really do that?  Would it not mean instant retaliation?  And, if we lose wouldn't he? Therefore, why would he do it? Or is it weak rational the west for doing nothing?

Two. If we open up drilling again it would delay our march toward ending fossil fuels. Well, let's look at this.  First of all, clean energy just isn't ready for prime time and until it is - well,  government dictates are what's hurting the American people. Plus, just because there are a lot of oil leases out there, they may well have been explored and found to be non-productive.

Three. If we lived in a fossil-free world, would it really prevent bad actors from attacking whomever they please? I'm thinking not. First, all those battery-powered vehicles will need to be charged. What do you charge them with? Electricity.  How do you get electricity? Even if it's generated with green energy, sophisticated hackers are more than capable of shutting down the grids - not to mention old Mother Nature.

I don't know.  I've got an appointment so I'm putting my thoughts on hold for a while. Something else to think about while I'm gone, however. What can we do to stop this madness NOW? There are things but world leaders just don't want to take any chances. "Tsk. Tsk. We can't do that. It may anger Putin."

Tough. I'm already paying the price I'm told is coming.  I can't afford groceries or gas to get out and get them. 

Think about it.

War. Why?

 This is one heck of a time to return to my blog. 

Just as I was allowing myself to think things in the world were getting better, with the downward trend of Covid and the politics beginning to bite those who put those politics above our collective well-being,  we are watching a brutal and senseless war.

If there was ever a time to think new generations of leadership are called for, it should be now. Especially in this country where those who hold the most power are my age or older.  I'd like to think I'm still pretty able and that my mind is relatively intact.  That being said, I still find myself wondering why I opened the pantry or where I left my car keys. I am rash enough to know that if I had ever had the mental acuity to run a country, I no longer do.  Nor do those who are currently in power. I'm sorry, but there comes a time when one should gracefully retire from the headiness of power and go enjoy your grandkids. Of course, it's not the nature of such a beast.

Then we look at Mr. Putin.  He's 69, so he's getting up there.  It seems he's living in a different age.  War is abhorrent to most of the world. Especially a shooting war such as he has now undertaken in Ukraine.  There are so many more sophisticated ways to bend wills this day and age other than to destroy an entire population who wanted no part of it to begin with.

So where are we in this conflict?  Granted, there is a lot I don't know, but it would appear we're sitting on the sideline while the rest of the world is making an effort to stop this bloodshed before it worsens. Where once we would be leading, we're not even following.  At least not with much vigor.

There are exceptions to the youth as leadership rules of course.  Justin Trudeau is a good example of this. I see the same fault lines with the far left progressives in this country who aren't even old enough to be president dictating much of the narrative.

I don't know how much this concerns friends who are my peers.  I don't really discuss it.  I try to spend my time pursuing things that make me happy.  Slobbers and his stories.  Photography. The simple things I enjoy that make life worth living. Then I turn on the news and there is nothing but doom and gloom of one type or another. Our own border issues, rampaging drug issues, inflation, and the unnecessary causes of it. It's depressing, to say the least.

I had hoped shooting wars were pretty much a thing of the past after our dismally conducted departure from Afghanistan, but of course, I was wrong. There will always be those who think the sword is mightier than the pen. 

I for one, however, will always choose the pen. Until I'm canceled. With a bit of luck, if that should happen, I hope it's by a power mightier than social media.

My Apologies To Kevin McCarthy - Sort Of

Okay.  Kevin McCarthy bowed out of the race for Speaker of the House.  I didn't think he would and for that I apologize.  I think, however, it was due to pressure from within; not because it was the right thing to do.

Now what?  I bear in mind one should be careful for what they wish.  Who will fill the void.  None of the people I think would be good want the job.  That tells me a lot and I'd rather not be thinking the way I am.  They aren't interested because of the grief that comes with it rather than taking on the really tough issues whether or not your fellow Republicans like you or not in the end.

I'm worried that the handful of right wing tea party types will hold up the party.  You know the ones. Those who think principle is more important than accomplishment.  Those who would rather shut down the government than compromise.  Those who think that their way is the only way acceptable.  Something of which both parties are guilty.

It didn't work before and it won't work now.  We should not forget that the Democrats are just as firmly entrenched as the Republicans and neither side seems willing to listen to voices of reason of which there are many.  Why is that?  Is it strictly a power trip?

I was wondering why, with all the negatives Hillary has, why an entire political party keeps her on top of the polls.  When did we become so blindly partisan.  Surely there are enough people in both parties with good enough sense to know at the moment nothing is working.

What is it they fear? The loss of their power jobs?  If so they're in it for the wrong reasons.  We try to turn over the membership but it seems every new one we send to the hill has mislead us as much as those we've turned out.

The only remedy I can think of is to have them bear the consequences of their own poor judgement.  The problem is I don't have a clue as to how we can accomplish that. When politicians  can lie with impunity from the President on down then tell us to trust them and we do, with whom does the fault lie?

We're all culpable.  If we don't get a handle on it we'll end up being the third world country Mr. Obama would like.  Actions, be they positive or negative, have consequences. We had best stop turning a blind eye and deaf ear to them or those Russian rockets going into Syria may soon be coming to a neighborhood near you.

Turning A Blind Eye

We all do it for various reasons.  Let's take my husband for instance.  He had turned a blind eye to his health for as long as I've known him.  Did he think he was invincible?  I have no idea because he'd never discuss it, but he came within hours of dying just a couple of weeks ago. Knowing his mind set I can't guarantee that I won't have to go through that particular hell again.

In a sense that is what has happened to this country.  We've all turned a blind eye to our social ills. Invincibility has nothing to do with this however.  It has to do with it being the easier out.  Until it explodes and the resulting shrapnel cannot be pieced back together again.

What we're lacking in this country are the basics.  Different communities have different areas in which they are weakest but all have them and it's due to a lack of the right kind of leadership. Start with Native Americans.  Centuries ago we began changing them into a welfare state and so they remain.  If it weren't for their enterprising casinos it would be worst but if that enterprising spirit had been channelled toward education and mainstreaming into American society things would be a lot better for them.

Then there are the blacks.  If government didn't reward them for bad behavior perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.  Instead of Obama phones, and food stamps and welfare mothers if leaders had sat them down and told them they have to be responsible for their own fate perhaps they would put some effort to rising out of their despondency and bettering themselves sans handouts.

But leaders haven't done that. We've allowed them to nurture a victim mentality rather than showing them that is no excuse.  You break the law you go to jail.  You father a child you support it. You get an education without being passed through.  You compete and when you don't win you work to better yourself rather than cry victim.

None of this is rocket science.  But it does take conscious recognition by all of us and a cohesive effort to make the changes necessary.  Forget political correctness.  It's a relatively new concept and people who were never offended before are suddenly - victims.  Don't tell me it harms their self esteem.  First you have to have some.

The basics.  Meet a guy or gal.  Romance them.  Get married. Then have children.  Stay in the relationship.  Nurture the kids.  Be a part of their lives.  Educate them.  Stand by them.  And always be there for them with patience, understanding and love.  When they stray don't tolerate it.  Stealing is wrong.  Bullying is wrong. Challenging authority is wrong. We have it for a reason.  It's all basic and it all starts at home.

Oh, what nice words and thoughts but how do you accomplish all this when the country has gone so far astray?  Back to leadership. Don't tolerate those who disrupt for their own agendas.  Teach the kids to know the difference.  And from the top down be ethnically, sexuality and religiously blind when applying justice.  No one should be immune from punishment for bad behavior nor raised up as heroes when in truth they are thugs.

If this is going to end we have to get smart about how it's handled and political correctness isn't smart.  Looking in the mirror with honesty is.  It's a place to start. Do we have the guts to do it?

Leadership Tempered?

So both houses of Congress have retained their leadership.  Wow.  I'm not surprised about the Republicans but I am with the Democrats.

It is good to know Harry Reid wasn't re-elected unanimously. Some actually wanted some fresher, younger faces.  As a paean they promoted Elizabeth Warren to a minor leadership role.  Ms. Warren is 65.  Some youth movement. Actually, it has nothing to do with youth but rather her current popularity, especially with the far left who feel shortchanged by Obama.

Actually I don't think age is the problem.  It's attitude and we all know what both Pelosi and Reid have been when they were the majority leaders. For the most part nasty. And in Ms. Pelosi's case sometimes appearing to be from a different reality.

On the Republican side Mr. Boehner has often seemed ineffectual but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that there was good reason.  After all, he had the Tea Party group to hold in line.  As for McConnell, who knows.  Perhaps he was so  low key because he knew that as long as the Democrats had the upper hand there was no use being belligerent and in turn appear to be whining.  Nor would he go along with the shutting down of the government a la Ted Cruz.  It gained nothing but anger, angst and ridicule.

So now we go forward. Same leadership, reversed roles. I'm going to be cautiously optimistic that both houses will function better. At least until we get about three months into 2015 when a new assessment of that function will be more appropriate.

What worries me most is the President. I fear he will continue to run amok and make good Congressional intentions, if there are any, more difficult to achieve.  The problem is you never know what he's going to do or when.  So many things are hanging fire it's disturbing.

On the foreign policy side we're looking at decisions that could prove disastrous.  Consider Russia's emboldened pursuit of Ukraine and it's increased harassment of the west with it's air power.  Consider the now combined efforts of the Nursa Front and IS against the Kurds and the suggestion of the not dead Baghdadi to extend efforts into Saudi.  Consider climate control that will effect us immediately and the Chinese probably never.

Domestically there is still the Keystone pipeline which Obama desperately does not want. The immigration amnesty issue.  Ferguson. Tweaks to Obamacare and the largest worry to those not touched by the others, the economy.

Did I say I was cautiously optimistic?  Don't ask me why!

What If The Republicans DO Win?

The news cycles have calmed down a bit over the week end.  The U.S. has finally started sending much needed relief to the Kobani Kurds even though Turkey is not happy about it. What's going on around Baghdad is for another day.

The Ebola hoopla has settled thanks to a lot of people being able to leave quarantine.  Imagine.  Who would ever have thought that our advanced methods of care would be more dangerous to the care givers than what's being done in West Africa.  There's a lesson to be learned there and I think we've learned it.  At least I hope so.

So the news cycled back to the mid-terms and who was likely to win the tight races.  While some say the Republicans are a slam dunk, just as many aren't so sure.  Even the Republican wonks.

There is good reason for this.  It's like they are the stealth party.  Where are they? Who do we know?  Let's see.  McCain, Graham, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, Paul, Gowdy.  These are names that just pop into my mind.  None of them are in leadership.

Maybe a Dogwalk solution is needed for the last weeks of campaigning.  If the Republicans win the Senate every leadership position in the House and Senate would be up for grabs.  No more shoo ins because of seniority. They need some leadership with a firm grasp of House and Senate rules along with a personality! Not fire brands, mind you, just a personality.

Toss in an actual agenda for the new leadership to articulate and I'd feel a whole lot better about a lot of things.  Unfortunately, as with most of my Dogwalk solutions, this one has as much of a chance of becoming reality as the Democratic Senate producing a budget.

I'm beginning to relate to partisanship.  There is a lot I'm willing to compromise on but these two items are not negotiable and with most things approached in such a manner I expect gridlock. In other words, if the Republicans win the only change I predict will be the faces.